Politics & Government
Back To Batista: Worcester Councilors May Vote On City Manager Hiring
Acting City Manager Eric Batista may get the job Tuesday with city council ready to end a nationwide search.
WORCESTER, MA — Worcester might have a new city manager this week.
The Worcester City Council on Tuesday will debate a series of measures would avoid a nationwide search for a new city manager and give the job to acting City Manager Eric Batista, who has been in the role since Ed Augustus Jr. left at the end of May.
The city manager search has been a hot potato in City Hall over the past few months. Worcester Mayor Joe Petty has been campaigning since September to quit the search and hire Batista, while At-Large Councilor Khrystian King — who was effectively put in charge of the city manager search in the spring — has tried to forge ahead with a nationwide search. Through a city council subcommittee, King has an executive search firm ready to do the search.
At the last council meeting on Oct. 25, the council took several votes around hiring the city manager, including effectively suspending the nationwide search process. Petty's move toward hiring Batista had a narrow 6-5 majority support at that meeting.
But at the same meeting, King held a Petty motion to offer Batista the job and move into contract negotiations. That item is back up for a possible vote on Tuesday, along with a new effort by King to hold a series of community conversations with Batista — effectively giving city residents a chance to get to know Batista before he officially takes over.
"Said conversations should collect information concerning community needs and shape the city’s vision to ensure the credibility of the next candidate for city manager is not undermined," King's order says.
Batista began working inside Worcester City Hall in 2012 under former manager Michael O’Brien, two years before Augustus got the job. Batista started off as a project manager in O'Brien's office, and later served as the director of the Office of Urban Innovation under Augustus. He was promoted in September 2021 to become an assistant city manager along with Nicole Valentine, and had also served as the interim chief diversity officer.
Augustus announced his plans to step down in March, and now works as the chancellor of Dean College in Franklin.
More on the Worcester City Manager search process:
