Town of Otis
Town Administrator Search Committee
Meeting Minutes
November 14, 2017
Meeting called to order at 7:47 pm in the Town Hall conference room, is being recorded, and we have a quorum.
Present: Gary Thomas, Terry Gould, Roberta Sarnacki, George Mengel, Michael Ernst, Larry Gould
Introduction of Members: Six of the seven members are present and the last two members were sworn in before the meeting began.
Appoint Chairperson: Terry nominated Roberta and George seconded the nomination. No other nominations were made. Five yea votes appointed Roberta as chair.
Discuss Applicants: Roberta suggested we separate applicants into two stacks – those who have the municipal background in Massachusetts and those who do not. Gary thinks members should put their thoughts together as to what should be required of this position. Everyone agreed both ideas were the correct way to begin and everyone also determined the position would require working at Town Hall eight hours for all four business days. Everyone also agreed the new hire should be available to all department heads by cell and/or text. While municipal financial experience is helpful, everyone also agreed this was not the main requirement needed for the applicant’s municipal background.
The applicants with municipal background are: Kevin Towle, Angie Ellison, Harry Staven, Adam Lamontagne, Rebecca Stone, Jonathon Williams, Mike Coughlin, Mary O’Connell, Susan Carmel, and Laura Lee Bertram.
The applicants without municipal background may be considered at a later point in time.
Homework: After a lot of discussion, Roberta decided everyone should review the Job Description list from hiring the current Town Administrator, and each member decide what are the important requirements currently. Roberta also asked Lisa to forward the current job description for this position from the Job Classification Study that was done recently along with a copy of the current contract. This should be ready for the next meeting. Roberta also asked that the ten applications be reviewed by each member and rank them in order from best to least. This will also be reviewed at the next meeting.
Roberta and Terry also volunteered to survey what neighboring towns are doing for their administrator positions: hours per week, pay rate, shared or not. Terry will research Blandford, Monterey, Becket, and Sandisfield. Roberta will research Readsboro, Sheffield and Great Barrington. Larry volunteered to check with Hatfield.
Next Meetings: Everyone checked their schedules and determined the next two dates for meeting: November 21, 2017 at 6:30 pm and November 30, 2017 at 6:30 pm. Lisa will post the agenda for the 21st tomorrow.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm. George made the motion to adjourn and the motion was seconded by Larry.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of 16 applications will be kept on file.
- A copy of MGL Chapter 41 Section 23A will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of MGL Chapter 41 Section 108N will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of questions for interviews date April 23, 2007 authored by Lee Marcella will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of a memo describing the town adopting the administrator/Selectmen form of government will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Position Description used to hire the town’s first Town Administrator will be filed with these meeting minutes.