Town Administrator Search Committee to Interview Seven Candidates

Brad Bond, chair of the Town Administrator Search Committee and Burlington Human Resources Director Joanne Faust presented an update of the search at Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting.

Bond said the Edwards J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management, a public entity based at UMass Boston received a total of 22 applicants in the nation-wide search. Originally the board, in meetings with the Collins Center, had expected that between 40 to 50 applicants to apply. Bond said the high standards laid out by the board may have scared off less-qualified applicants.

"You set the bar pretty high with a fairly stringent set of requirements," Bond told the board members.

Bond said the Collins Center did an initial screening of the candidates and passed 12 applications along to the committee. The committee then met to review the applications and will now meet and interview seven of the applicants.The plan is to now further vet the candidates and bring the best before the selectmen for a decision.

"We are planning on bringing you three candidates but may bring more if there are candidates we feel you should meet," Bond said. "If all seven are great we may have you meet them all."

Faust added the process is on schedule and if all proceeds as planned the committee will have the candidate recommendations on time. Current Town Administrator Robert Mercier is planning to retire on June 1, following the passing of the FY'13 budget.

"We are on schedule," Faust said. "The committee is dedicated to completing this on schedule to give you enough time for candidates interviews."

Bond and Faust also told the board that because some of the candidates will be coming in from around the country for interviews, the committee will also need approval for travel expenses. Mercier said the funds are available for the committee.