SWAMPSCOTT — The Select Board voted 4-1 to name Jason Silva as the top candidate for the next Town Administrator during its meeting Tuesday evening, though Silva won’t be officially appointed to the role until his contract has been finalized.
The board gathered to interview two of the final candidates, Jason Silva and Nicholas Connors, before debating the candidates’ answers and taking a subsequent vote.
Aside from serving as the Town Administrator for Marblehead from 2018 to 2022, Silva currently works in the same position for Dunstable, where he’s been since 2022. He also served as the Director of Community Engagement for Regina Villa Associates.
Silva is a graduate of Salem State University and Suffolk University. He’s also the recipient of the Massachusetts Municipal Association-Suffolk University Certificate in Local Government Leadership & Management.
First he was asked to share the main factor behind his decision to leave Marblehead.
“I was cooked, I had gone through one thing after another,” he said. “Soon after that, I realized I needed a break from municipal government, and I always felt like I’d come back to it, but at that moment it was time for me to take a break, and that was the main driver for leaving Marblehead.”
Next, Silva was asked what made him think being Swampscott’s Town Administrator could be any different.
“I don’t know if it will be. I can only base off the work I’ve done to research the position and community. I think I’m in a much different place than I was then,” he said. “It allowed me to rediscover my joy and passion for the work. You never know until you’re in the position. I thought my skills, experience and background would serve the community well.”
Silva was then asked to elaborate on his management style, should he be voted into the position.
“I’m a big list guy, I prioritize my lists constantly. … I have goals and objectives on my desk,” he said. “We’ve built some consensus around those, that’s how I do it. … I do my best to align what I’m doing with what we’re trying to achieve — it’s pretty simple, and it works for me.
“It’s not an easy thing — there’s a lot of balls in the air, a lot of competing interests and priorities between departments and committees. You lean on the resources you have and work collaboratively with everyone and push forward the most important items on the list based on those interactions,” Silva continued.
He added that he has an open door policy.
“People can come in whenever they want, staff and public. I think that’s important. Transparent communication is important,” Silva said.
He said he sees the role of Town Administrator as trying to execute on a day-to-day basis what the Select Board is trying to accomplish. “My role is to support the Board in all ways that I can,” Silva said.
He was also asked how he would foresee balancing the town’s finances for the year without tapping into unused levy.
“Assuming you want to avoid that, they’re tough decisions. That’s what happens in these situations, you’ll have to make decisions some people like and others may not. In Dunstable, one of the things I learned was how to put a budget together. … It was a learning experience, and so you go through the process,” he said.
During the discussion segment following the interviews, Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher said that while both were great candidates, she was leaning more toward Silva “because of his experience, and that’s what I feel the town needs.”
Select Board Danielle Leonard shared her thoughts.
“I think this is an incredibly tough decision. I too have done an awful lot of research. … It’s very subjective, I tend to get more info from the candidates themselves, and both (are) exceptional candidates,” Leonard said. “I personally find myself leaning toward Nicholas Connors. I was also pretty impressed about Connors’ due diligence, really taking the time to exhibit that he understands where we’re at.”
Select Board member David Grishman said “tonight was reflective of a difficult decision the board has.
“We heard from two incredibly talented candidates, both have experience in a variety of goals, both which I believe can be successful in our great town. … I think to MaryEllen’s point, it comes down to experience — we have someone who has proven that they can run a municipality, and that’s incredibly important,” he said. “I would certainly lean toward Silva.”
Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thomson commented on his perspective.
“They’re both great, and the lead for me is that I’ll be happy either way we go. They have slight differences, but I think we’ll be in good shape with both of them,” Thompson said. “If push came to shove, I’d go with Jason (Silva), but I’m really happy either way.”
Select Board Chair Katie Phelan said both candidates could do a great job in the position, and shared why she was leaning toward Connors.
“There are a lot of benefits to both of them — either of them could do a great job — but all the feedback that we got from the survey was about transparency, communication and finances. I feel like we have one that is more stronger on the communications, perhaps transparency side of things,” Phelan said. “I feel like both of them could perfectly do the job, but I feel that I’m leaning more toward Nick (Connors).”
The board then went into executive session after concluding the meeting to discuss contract negotiations for Silva going forward.
