Council on Aging Candidates Down to Three

The number of candidates is down to three in the search for the first shared director of the Council on Aging in both Hamilton and Wenham.

After the four-person search committee , the resumes from the seven applicants were reviewed and the committee decided to call three of the candidates in for an interview.

The committee consists of Hamilton Town Manager Michael Lombardo; Wenham Town Manager Jeff Chelgren; Paul Mendonca, chairman of the Wenham Council on Aging and Theresa (Mimi) Fanning, chairman of the Hamilton Council on Aging.

"We are attempting to schedule the first round of interviews for the week between Christmas and New Years," Chelgren said in a written update on the selection process issued to the press on Monday morning. "If that is successful we may be at point that we can make recommendations for hire to the two Boards of Selectmen by mid-January."

Chelgren didn't say what would happen if the Board of Selectmen in one town endorses the committee's selection and the board on the other town rejects it.

In November, , will be one full time person who will split his or her time between Hamilton and Wenham, spending half the time managing the Wenham Council on Aging and half the time managing the Hamilton Council on Aging. Currently, Wenham has a part-time, interim director, Susan Carp, and Hamilton manages its senior programs through the Recreation Department.

The move to a shared director does not have universal support. Before the selectboards in both towns approved the move in November, Jennifer Scuteri, chairman of the Hamilton Board of Selectmen, received a 22-signature petition from residents concerned about how the position would be split between the two towns, saying the new hire will be needed or wanted in the morning in both places.

The position will pay between $28,000 and $32,000 per year and applicants were required to hold a Bachelor's Degree but a Master's Degree was preferred, according to the job posting. A minimum of four years of relevant work experience was also required.

Already, the two towns share services in many ways, including the senior van service, plus the , and . In most case, employees in those departments work for one town and the other town pays half the salary, plus an administrative fee. But the Council on Aging position is shaping up to work out differently, where the person will actually work half time for each town but be a full time employee with benefits. The Council on Aging will remain in tact, separately, in both towns under the plan.

The shared Council on Aging Director was approved at the same time both towns also approved combining the grounds maintenance functions of the Department of Public Works, a plan that is scheduled to go in place on March 1.