Above: This morning, the Select Board named their top pick to lead the Fire Department. (image cropped from the Town’s video of last week’s interviews)
Pending a successful contract negotiations and full background check — Southborough’s next Fire Chief will be Andrew Puntini of Ashland.
Based on interviews of three finalists on Thursday night, letters of recommendations, and offline conversations that individual Select Board members had with people whose expertise they value, members unanimously named Puntini as their top choice for the job.
The Select Board made clear that they believed all three candidates were capable of doing the job. And they noted that Captain Puntini had the lowest ranking title of the three who also included a Chief and Deputy Chief. But they believed he was capable and appeared to like his enthusiasm for the job.
Chair Andrew Dennington said that he believed that there would be a longer runway for Puntini, versus hiring Oxford’s Fire Chief Laurent McDonald (his second pick). But he thought that Puntini was the best fit for Southborough.
Dennington was excited about the level of energy Puntini would bring. Both he and Vice Chair Kathy Cook specified that they had consulted with people with extensive experience in the fire service whose opinion they respected.
Cook noted that some who she spoke to had known Puntini for a long time and believe he is ready for the job.
Member Marguerite Landry said she thought “he would be diplomatic working with the family that is the fire department”. She also liked what he said about his familiarity with AI, which “will impact the way that fire department functions”.
Member Al Hamilton made clear that he was fine with the potential that the position would be a launching pad for Puntini’s successful career rather than a long term stint:
I think we shouldn’t get too worked up about is how long we expect this person work for us. Both of [Deputy Chief Harrington] and Mr Puntini, this would be their first chief job. We’re a small town. I they’re as good as we hope they are this might not be their last Chief assignment.
The board made clear that Puntini’s background working with multiple Regional Emergency Communications Centers (RECCs) was a strong plus. They felt his perspective would be valuable whether or not they pursue a regional dispatch. Hamilton said they would benefit from hearing “the pluses and the minuses from somebody with literally boots on the ground”.
Cook highlighted that if it turns out that the board decides entering a RECC is the right path:
he can help explain why to the police and fire and dispatchers, so they understand that he’s actually lived it and understands you know pros and cons.
Dennington pointed out that one weakness for Puntini was experience with budgeting a department. But he believed that since the next Fiscal Year’s budget had just been passe by Town Meeting there was plenty of transition time for him to get his feet wet and learn about Southborough. He also believed that Puntini’s experience writing administrative grants would be helpful.
Cook followed up that she wasn’t concerned about his ability to pick that up since most of the costs are based on contractual salaries and fixed costs.
Dennington also noted that he liked the fact that as an Ashland resident (where he also has served as an on-call firefighter) would be familiar with our town and able to quickly respond to a complicated emergency response.
Puntini was the last of the three finalists interviewed on Thursday night. If you would like to watch that conversation, you can find it here.
Dennington and Cook were selected to represent the board in contract negotiations. The final contract will require the vote of the full board.
