A Small World:

Sterling residents were introduced for the first time to the contenders for the position of town administrator during an evening of interviews held by selectmen on Nov. 14.

Residents must wait until final discussion and a vote by the board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 20 to find out who will fill the post at the end of the year. The decision will be posted on thelandmark.com.

Recommended as the top three candidates for the post after Town Administrator Search Committee members conducted the research and pared the list down to Athol Town Manager Michael Slzosek of Ludlow, Moultonborough, N.H. Town Administrator Carter Terenzini of Spencer, and Templeton Town Coordinator Jeff Ritter of Harvard.

Selectman chairman Ronald Furmaniuk and vice chairman Brian Patacchiola were present for the interviews. According to Furmaniuk, although selectman Robert Cutler was unable to attend in person, he was watching the interviews from home through the local access programming. After the conclusion of the interviews, Furmaniuk and Patacchiola praised the search committee’s efforts, noting that all three were “excellent” candidates. Patacchiola remarked that he was “incredibly impressed” and “very excited” with the top choices, adding that each expressed “a pretty unique personality” and management style. He added that any one of the three would fit well in Sterling.

Slzosek, who has been town manager in Athol since 2012, had previously served in the same post for a little more than two years in Uxbridge and prior to that as town administrator in South Hadley and Ludlow. He had also run his own private law office from 1992-2004.

Slzosek said being involved with many elected officials over the years has influenced his management style, which he describes as collaborative and involves regular meetings with department heads and periodic staff meetings. “I try to get everybody on board,” he commented, adding, “I like people to follow my lead because they understand we’re going in the right direction, not because I pointed them there.” Slzosek stressed his “open door policy” which in Athol, he jokingly remarked, has left him with a rare opportunity for lunchtime breaks as that is when most come to see him over various concerns. He added more seriously, however, that regardless, “I get things done.”

Slzosek said he tends to be “fiscally conservative” in dealing with budgets. He noted that in his first year as Athol town manager, he worked to reduce town spending by about $300,000 because he felt the projected revenues would not support the higher budget.

During his interview, Terenzini noted he has more than 30 years of both public and private service, including his current position as town administrator for the town of Moultonborough, N.H. that he has held since 2008. Terenzini had previously served as town administrator for town of Spencer from 1999-2008, city manager for Mt. Morris, Mich. from 1997-1999, and town manager of Castleton, Vt. from 1994-1996.

In his letter to the search committee, Terenzini said, “You would be retaining someone with a reputation for team-building, innovation, and solid accomplishment who can generate enthusiasm over the driest of public policy matters.”

During his interview, Terenzini told selectmen that ultimately it must be a “good fit” between the town and its department heads and the choice of new town administrator. He said he was “realistic, creative, dependable” and a “strong communicator.”

Terenzini remarked that public service “is something that I enjoy, I have a passion for. I believe that a well-rounded government, a fiscally conservative government, a frugal government can be a positive factor in people’s lives in developing a sense of quality of life, of personal safety, of property safety, of educational opportunity that allows them to be and the community to be all that it can be.”

He pointed out some of the major issues facing Sterling, including infrastructural needs of town roads, the growing school budget, and services for seniors. He noted that it is the job of the Board of Selectmen to give him goals to work on, but at the end of the day, “It’s the people’s town.”

The third interview was Jeff Ritter, who lives in Harvard and has been serving as town administrator for Templeton for about one year. Previously, he had served as town administrator for about two years each for the towns of Hatfield and Harvard.

In his comments to the board, Ritter said, “frankly, my strong suit is my ability to facilitate.” He said that in his current role in Templeton, he has aided in a complete restructuring of the core of the town with the hiring of a new town treasurer and town counsel, and a new financial general ledger, charter of accounts, payroll system, Web site and email system.

“I work first and foremost for the board,” he said, “but through you, I work for the citizens, the taxpayers of Sterling.” He said his focus would be working on “common issues to move the town forward.”

Ritter noted that he would bring to the job his three-legged belief system: fact, law and transparency. Through this system, he would always seek out the solid facts in any pursuit or goal, determine whether these facts meet with local, state or federal law, and also conduct “the public’s business in public.”

He said that everyone in the town has the right to know what is being done and how. “There are no secrets. There can be no secrets,” he said. Like Slzosek, Ritter noted his belief in an “open door policy.”

Ritter said he believed that the job of the Board of Selectmen should be policy making and planning, but that the actual daily implementation of these policies and planning efforts should be done by the department heads and staff.

He said what attracted him to Sterling was the town’s possibility for future planning and growth.

He said town officials are in a good position to “drive change” and look into how the town can possibly grow by attracting light industry to Sterling while retaining its old New England charm, character and traditions. He also urged the possibility of planning for future projects and creating project plans and specs to be able to act quickly on state funding that might be made available.

Patacchiola said that officials are looking for a new administrator who “understands and cares about where we live.”

He added that the new town administrator should be passionate and invested and active in the community and should be able to work well with the staff.

Current Town Administrator Terri Ackerman will retire by the end of December.

Due to accumulated vacation time, she will remain on the town’s payroll until early January and has promised to assist in the transition when the new town administrator begins work.

posted by Jeff Bennett