Marblehead Lays Out Timeline To Hire New Town Administrator

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Board of Selectmen could be in a position to interview finalists and select a candidate as the next town administrator in early May, according to a timeline laid out at last week's meeting.

The search to replace Jason SIlva, which will be conducted with assistance from the Collins Center for Public Management, will begin with drafting a profile of the desired candidates and putting out a call for candidates early in March. After the job is posted for between two and four weeks, the applicants and their credentials will go to the screening committee appointed during last Wednesday's meeting.

Interim Town Administrator John McGinn will chair the screening committee, which will also include Board of Selectmen members Jackie Belf-Becker and Erin Noonan, as well as former town administrator Tony Sasso and Town Planner Rebecca Curran Cutting.

The screening committee will then review and interview candidates during April and present finalists — suggested to be three names — to the Board of Selectmen for consideration in early May.

The candidates' names will not become public during the screening process and will only be publicized once they are a finalist for confidentiality reasons.

While the screening committee will be subject to open meeting rules, no public comment will be allowed and executive sessions will be used when discussing specific candidates.

The Board of Selectmen will choose a candidate out of the finalist pool to enter into contract negotiations.

Depending on those negotiations and any notice the chosen candidate must give a prior employer, the new permanent town administrator could be in place by late May or June.

Silva served for 3 1/2 years before delivering his resignation for undisclosed reasons early last month.

McGinn, who preceded Silva as town administrator, was appointed as interim town administrator the week after Silva tendered his resignation.

"Frankly, I hope the transitional period is as short as possible because I want to see the town move ahead as quickly as possible getting a full-time, permanent administrator," McGinn said at the time. "I have no desire to make this longer than it has to be."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)