This morning, I posted the job posting for a new Building Commissioner. For those looking for more context on why we need one, I’m following up with those details.
The pending retirement of Commissioner Laurie Livoli was announced at last week’s Select Board meeting. Her last day will be March 3rd.
Town Administrator Mark Purple acknowledged that the notice is short for filling the post for our top zoning enforcement officer. To jump start the hiring, the Select Board opted to first use internal resources (including Livoli who has strong networking contacts) and advertising to promote the opening for a short window.
If the first push for applicants is unsuccessful, they’ll talk to the municipal recruiter they just contracted to recruit a new finalist for DPW Superintendent. (Scroll down for more on that.)
In the meantime, Purple said they still needed to work out how the office will be structured for the bridge period. But he assured that the department has a part-time Assistant Building Commissioner “who is as qualified as most Building Commissioners in the state”. The TA described him as currently working about 5 hours per day Tuesdays through Fridays.
I confirmed with the department today that he was referring to “Local Inspector” Raymond Matte. Matte is the former Building Commissioner for Concord. He took Southborough’s part-time gig this past fall, post-retirement.
Prior to accepting her current job in 2018, Livoli worked as Concord’s Building Commissioner.*
In the same meeting, the Board finalized the DPW recruiting contract. The approval came after Purple passed on recruiter Bernie Lynch’s assurance that if finalists pull out, he’ll restart the search under the same contract without additional fees. The Town will only be responsible for paying for new advertisements, as ads aren’t covered by the $9K contract.
*Note: At the time of Livoli’s hiring, I wrote “Southborough’s Building Commissioner acts both as the Zoning Enforcement Officer and Building Inspector. Looking at Concords’ website, it appears that department separates the roles.”
I’m not sure what I saw a that time. At this time, there is no reference to a separate job title for a zoning officer, and the Building Commissioner is the top job on the Building and Zoning department page. (So, I don’t know if I misread something five years ago or if the department was restructured since then.)
