EAST LONGMEADOW – “Self-starter,” “strong communicator,” “collaborative,” “enthusiastic” and “strong time management skills” were all terms or phrases used by East Longmeadow Town Council members to describe their ideal candidate for a new town manager. At the Sept. 11 Town Council meeting with Community Paradigm Associates, the company charged in assisting the council in finding a new town manager, the council explained the qualities that they are looking for in a candidate.

Bernard Lynch, principal officer for Community Paradigm Associates, led the meeting for the Council. Lynch asked a series of questions, and the answers the council gave to the questions would then go toward creating a “position statement” for the open town manager position. The position statement, Lynch explained, is not only a marketing tool that will be distributed to potential candidates imploring them to apply for the job, but it also is an important tool for the screening committee to use to evaluate potential applicants that come forward.

Providing a timeline for how long he expects the town manager search to go, Lynch stated there is potential for a new town manager to be seated in January. The timeline as described by Lynch, if everything goes according to plan, is as follows:

•Draft position statement following the Sept. 11 meeting

•Bring position statement back to council for approval

•Approval of position statement

•Advertising and recruiting, which takes roughly four weeks

•Sit down with Town Manager Screening Committee in late October, early November

•Screening Committee reviews all applicants

•Screening Committee interviews roughly seven applicants

•Screening Committee narrows down applicants to three to four candidates,gives those to Town Council

•Town Council reviews candidates around the middle of November

•Candidate selection in early December

•Candidate starts in January

Lynch shared with the council that he had met with department heads earlier in the day on Sept. 11. He stated he was “very impressed” and that the employees he met with had “clearly a great commitment to the town that they serve.” Lynch then noted that the department heads gave “good information” and that they had a “number of ideas and thoughts regarding the town.”

Prior to asking questions, Lynch explained that the market for gaining a town manager or administrator is “tough out there” and that there has been a lot of turnover in positions as baby boomers are retiring.

“It’s not as robust a pool of candidates as it used to be. Candidates are far more picky where they go and you have to compete to get people,” Lynch stated, adding, “It’s going to be work.”

To start off his questions, Lynch asked the council what are the characteristics of the person they would like to hire. Council member Thomas O’Connor stated that there are a number of individual characteristics he has identified, listing enthusiasm, cooperation, will to adapt, and a self-starter.

O’Connor then elaborated, stating that the applicant, “shouldn’t be sitting down waiting for direction from us, but they shouldn’t also be going off on their own without consulting with us on important issues.” He continued to state that this is where the will to be a team player comes in.

“No matter what business you’re in, no matter what you’re doing in life, if you don’t want to get up and go to work you’re in the wrong job,” O’Connor explained. “We want someone who wants to get up in the morning, who wants to come to work and contribute.”

Town council member Donald Anderson echoed O’Connor’s statement, adding that he feels experience is important as well. Anderson then asked Lynch if he found there was a difference in a candidate who has experience as a town manager versus a town administrator position. In short, Lynch stated that it was not an easy answer, and that it depends on the level of authority that the individual candidates had experienced in their former positions.

Relating back to a past experience Lynch had working with another community, he explained, “In one community, they were hiring a town manager and they were shocked to know [the candidate] had been a town administrator and had appointed every position in the town. In [the hiring] community, the town manager did not appoint every position in the town. What’s really important is really understanding in each case the form of government, the responsibilities and the level of authority that goes with that position and comes out.”

He then added that whether or not a town administrator would be a good fit for the town manager position would depend on “the enthusiasm, the experience that they might have and how long they’ve been in the field.”

Town council President Kathy Hill commented that they would soon be establishing a charter review committee and that would be a topic of much discussion soon. She stated, “There is sentiment among the folks who are active in town government including our first manager who would say that the charter was too strong in the powers that it gave to the manager.

“When I say it’s fair to say, I’m certain that will be a topic of discussion with the charter review commission when they are seated. The end result will be a product that who ever is the successful candidate will have to live with,” Hill said. “He or she will come in under the present charter but in less than a calendar year will have to adopt the tweaks that might be in the charter.”

Lynch encouraged the council to “not necessarily look upon a town manager having ‘powers’ as much as the town manager having responsibilities.” He noted that with authority comes responsibility.

Council member R. Patrick Henry responded to Lynch, stating that it’s possible the previous town manager did not work well within the balance between initiative and working with the council.

Henry explained further, “It could be that that is the major problem and another person with a different style might work with us with the same powers and still keep us more informed and make us comfortable about what they’re doing.”

O’Connor added that the charter concerns are “an elephant in the room” and that while he doesn’t think any of the council members foresee a “major rewrite of the charter,” they have seen a need for some change over the past few years.

Changing topics, council member Ralph Page asked Lynch if he had found that the private sector could offer a good candidate based on their potential backgrounds running companies or being CEOs. Lynch stated that in the past he has placed some people in positions that were from the private sector, however generally speaking, they have found that if the candidate does not have any municipal experience they “struggle with the interview and with the public process.” Elaborating, he stated, “There is a different set of rules, different processes – nothing shocks some people more than the transparency of government and the rules of government.”

Page circled back to Lynch’s original question regarding the qualities of candidates the council was looking for, stating that he is looking for a strong communicator, someone who is fiscally conservative, and someone who will get back to the public’s inquiries in a reasonable time frame, “Not in two weeks, not in three weeks.” He added that time management is key as well.

As the discussion continued, the topic of having a manager who lives in town came up. Generally, the council echoed the sentiment of the importance of having a town manager that was visible in town and was involved in the community. Lynch urged the council to “not enforce the residency” because it would limit their field of applicants.

Explaining his opinion, Lynch described his former experiences as a town manager, “I had the situation where I lived in the communities I managed, and I didn’t live in the communities I managed. But I was always part of the community.”

Town council Vice President Michael Kane said that it was important that they see someone “vested in the community,” but that didn’t mean the person had to live in East Longmeadow. Hill agreed, stating she wants to see someone who is collaborative.

“Collaborative only goes so far if you’re willing to compromise, and I think we were challenged in that department in recent months,” Hill said.

Circling back to Kane, he shared that he would like to see the new town manager spending more time with department heads to take in consideration their ideas and what they have to offer. He added he would like to see the manager leaving the town hall to visit the other facilities department heads are working out of.

Regarding main issues facing the town at this time, Kane mentioned staffing is a concern, specifically human resources. Hill interjected, noting that they do not have a human resources department at this time because the individual who was in it left the position and they are now “struggling a little bit with that.”

O’Connor said a concern of his in regard to the town is that the master plan has not been updated “for a very long time,” and though they’re in the process of doing that, there needs to be a complete vision and guidance for the town.

Hill shared one of the councils overarching concerns is their aging school buildings, including the High School, which is on its seventh year of applying for the Massachusetts School Building Authority funding.

Anderson explained that keeping empty nesters in town is key, as they are helping to pay for the schools and are generating money. He noted that the town pays roughly $15,000 per student, and even if a resident has a $400,000 house, roughly $8,000 to $9,000 might be collected in taxes. “If you have two kids there [in the $400,000 home] you’re still losing money,” he said.

Anderson then stated that he felt there is an issue with communication about town activities and events, and that they need a manager who is willing to “embrace the times” and that there must be other strategies to “get the message of the good work that the East Longmeadow government is doing beyond a Facebook page.”

Nearing the end of discussion, the group began to talk about the town manager screening committee. Lynch shared that this committee is not as much of a time commitment as people may think. He expects that the first meeting would be to organize and review resumes, and then about one full day to do interviews. Individuals interested in serving on the screening committee should submit a letter of interest noting the strengths they would bring to the committee to the Town Clerk’s office by Oct. 7, or emailed to Thomas.Florence@eastlongmeadowma.gov.