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Date: 2/15/2022
LUDLOW – With current Town Administrator Ellie Villano set to retire on Feb. 25, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen hosted a special meeting on Feb. 9 to conduct interviews to fill the position before naming Marc Strange the finalist for the job.
Strange, the current planning and community development director in Agawam and chair of the Longmeadow Select Board, was also named as one of the final four candidates for the open town manager position in East Longmeadow.
He has since removed himself from consideration for that job.
One of the first questions Strange was asked was about the ongoing development project at the Ludlow Mills and he said he was excited to work on the project.
“I think it is a great opportunity for Ludlow and it is a market differentiator. It has all the elements, it has the businesses, housing, the location is great and the clocktower is an icon. I am really excited about working on that project but also making the abutting areas more walkable. So, with all the residents at the mills, we want to make it as easy as possible for them where they want to go,” he said.
To help move the project forward, Strange said he would work with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) for finding additional funding for the mills.
“In Agawam, we used Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to fund infrastructure improvements, it is one of those things that people do not see but is really important. I would certainly engage with PVPC or another consultant with helping us send a CDBG application for infrastructure improvements along State Street there,” he said.
When the idea of changing up the structure of the town’s government was brought up, Strange said he would be in favor of exploring the changes.
“If you do want to change the structure, I would suggest going to a town manager with a town council. I agree the Town Meeting makes it difficult to get things done, regardless of how it would affect me I would like to be a part of that, at least to explore to see if there is room for growth there,” he said. “You want it to be efficient, inefficiency costs taxpayers’ dollars."
Strange said he wanted to work in Ludlow because of its similarities to his hometown.
“Ludlow is like the town I grew up in, Rome, NY. My impression of Ludlow is that it is tough, gritty, blue collar and proud. I feel like it is a good fit, obviously this is a chance for professional growth, but I am excited about this particular opportunity because it is a good fit,” he said.
When asked about short-term goals, Strange said he would start with a 120 day plan.
“Those 120 days, my goal would be to meet with individually with all the department heads, other stakeholders, business leaders, community groups and get an idea of what is going on in town. After those 120 days, I would bring back a report to see what is working and what is not,” he said.
Looking into the future, Strange said he wanted to improve community engagement and employee retention.
“Longer term, I think I would really love to expand community engagement through an upgraded website, which would be a great tool. It would be short money with great returns. It is also hard to find good municipal people so we have to come up with a plan to recruit and maintain employees and we also need to develop a succession plan for people that may be close to retiring,” he said.
Following Strange’s interview, the board also interviewed Hartford Public Library Chief Administrative Officer Mary Tzambazakis and current North Adams Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison.
During the deliberations, the board ranked the three candidates in order based on preference and Strange was listed first on four of the five ballots with Ellison taking the final number one slot but ranked overall second on the list.
After submitting their ballots, the board went around the table discussing their thoughts on the candidates, beginning with board member Derek DeBarge.
“I had Mr. Strange first for a myriad of reasons. Number one, I thought his short and long term plans stood out. That for me is what tipped the scale,” he said.
Board Vice Chair Antonio Goncalves agreed with DeBarge and said he like Strange’s vision of Ludlow’s future.
“I had Marc Strange on top, I am really about the future and how this community is going to look physically with zoning, with the mills, with the master planning and I think it needs to start from the top down with somebody that is eager to see this town develop into that picture perfect town. He did his homework and knows about the mill project probably as well as I do,” he said.
Goncalves added Strange’s experience in Agawam and Longmeadow could be a boon to Ludlow.
“With the experience in Agawam and Longmeadow, which are communities that are similar to ours and in our neck in the woods, he can make that comparison and bring the good from those communities into this community by actually living and being a part of it,” he said.
By hiring Strange, board Chair Bill Rosenblum said he could help town government communicate better with people.
“I did have Mr. Strange as number one, sometimes it is the little things but talking about a stakeholder list and something with the communication and being able to do some things of that nature is important. I think the biggest thing is we maybe do not communicate enough, and he is also talking about efficiency and supporting governmental changes,” he said.
Board member Manny Silva said he picked Strange first because of his experience in development and previous work with Westmass Area Development President Jeffrey Daley.
“I like the fact that he is an attorney, I like the fact that he is doing development, he also works with and has worked with Mr. Daley and he seemed to be very responsive to the questions we had, so I also went with Mr. Strange,” he said.
Board member James Gennette said Ellison stood out the most to him, in particular because of a situation in her previous job in Uxbridge where she caught the town accountant embezzling, which led to what she described as broken trust with the Select Board there.
“I do not think there was one single answer she did not impress me with, and when she come up with the response to Uxbridge and gave her honest opinion about what happened, there are not too many people that would have faced that, and I think she did it stoically. She has the power for this position, and I think she can do amazing things in Ludlow,” he said.
The board unanimously agreed to offer the town administrator job to Strange. With the motion to offer the job to Strange, the board agreed to name Ellison as the second choice for the spot should negotiations fall through.