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02/11/2019 11:00 PMThe Board of Selectmen (BOS) has appointed six to a committee tasked with searching for Clinton’s first town manager.
The Town Manager Search Committee (TMSC) will include Dennis Donovan, Carrie Allen, Hank Teskey, Anselmo Delia, and selectmen Phil Sengle and Tim Guerra. The announcement was made after an executive session at the Feb. 6 BOS meeting.
First Selectman Christine Goupil said the members were chosen for their expertise and understanding. Donovan, Teskey, Delia, and Sengle are Republicans, while Allen and Guerra are Democrats. The group will be tasked with making regular reports to the BOS on the search progress.
In addition to the TMSC, the town will put out a request for proposal for a headhunter to help with the search. The headhunter will help lead the search committee through the process, and will also seek input from department heads, develop an official job description, and conduct other research as required.
The official charges that will be given to the headhunter and TMSC are still being developed at press time. The charges will spell out the authority and boundaries of each group.
The remainder of 2019 will prove to be a busy year for the TMSC. Last November, residents voted to approve a proposed charter change that required that the town adopt a form of government in which a town manager acts as the town’s chief executive and takes on many of the duties currently handled by the first selectman. Those in favor of the move cited reasons such as a belief that a town manager would bring professionalism to the job, as well as reduce the influence of partisan politics on certain aspects of running the town.
The manager will be overseen by an elected seven-member town council, who are able to hire or fire the town manager.
An update on the town website in 2018 stated in part that the town manager “will be determined on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications, character, education, professional training, and experience, such as a master’s degree in public administration (MPA), master’s degree in business administration (MBA), or related fields. The town manager need not be a resident of the town or state at the time of appointment and may reside outside the town while in office only with the approval of the Town Council.”
The changes go into effect this November.