The committee charged with screening candidates in the search for a new town administrator has selected its group of finalists, chairman Russ Millholland told the Board of Selectmen this week, but the names of the finalists have not yet been released.
Millholland said the committee interviewed “several people” and selected finalists, but wanted to wait until they had a chance to notify their current employers before releasing the finalists’ names. He also would not say how many candidates had been selected, but expected to be able to announce the finalists next week.
Millholland said selectmen should look at doing the final interviews early in September, but Chairman John Rooney said he wanted to move faster than that to ensure the candidates remain viable.
The board originally decided to hold interviews at their next meeting on August 21, but that meeting was later rescheduled to August 20 due to a conflict.
Before the finalists meet with selectmen, Millholland said he would do reference checks and have the candidates meet with town department heads.
The town administrator position was been vacant since former Town Administrator Jean Kitchen retired at the end of June. Assistant Town Administrator Vanessa Hale has been filling the gap as interim town administrator.
The screening committee was formed in May. In a comment on this blog last week, member Paul Cimino said the committee’s work was proceeding ahead of schedule, “with the presentation of a list of finalists to the Selectmen likely to come over a month sooner than originally requested/expected.”
I’ll keep you posted on the names of the finalists and the interview schedule. The interviews with selectmen will be open to the public.
