Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/10/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow Town Council voted 6-1 to scrap its original town manager search, which yielded three candidates, including two from the town’s own ranks.
At the Feb. 14 Council meeting, the council voted to postpone appointing one of the three candidates chosen by the screening committee with the help of the search firm Community Paradigm Associates because a question had been raised by the qualifications required by the Town Charter.
Article 3 of the charter calls for the town manager to be “a person of proven administrative ability, especially qualified by education and training with prior experience as a city or town manager, or an assistant city or town manager or the equivalent public or private sector level experience.”
The final three candidates from the search were East Longmeadow’s Finance Director Stephen J. Lonergan, IT Director Ryan J. Quimby and Wellesley Human Resources Scott Szczebak. None of them had experience in town management and the council sought an opinion from Town Attorney Jesse Belcher-Timme as to whether one of them could serve in the position. Belcher-Timme found the candidates were not specifically barred from the job, but said to obtain unquestionable clarification, the board would need to speak with the committee that drafted the charter.
When Council President Michael Kane asked for a motion to allocate $9,950 from the town’s Free Cash account to hire the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management to conduct a new search, Councilor Connor O’Shea interjected. He asked how the council had reached a decision on either conducting a new search or going with a new firm to do so. Kane replied that any councilor can introduce a motion for discussion and consideration.
O’Shea told his colleagues that he was not in favor of a new search. “I don’t see how we’d expect the candidate pool has changed,” he said, adding that it was “a slap in the face,” to the screening committee that had brought the council three “qualified candidates.” O’Shea said he was still ready to vote for one of the original candidates.
Councilor Sydney Starks disagreed with O’Shea and said a new search would give the council a chance to do its “due diligence” and “what’s best for the people of East Longmeadow.” O’Shea questioned how spending another $10,000 was in the taxpayer’s best interest.
“I was ready to vote two weeks ago,” Councilor Marilyn Richards said, but since Town Manager Mary McNally has volunteered to remain in the position until the June expiration of her contract, Richards wanted to use the time “to make sure we’re making the right choice.”
Council Vice President Ralph Page wanted to set concrete requirements before beginning a new search, but O’Shea disagreed with this step. He said any hiring process is “a bit of dance” to find the best candidate from among those available.
Kane assured O’Shea that conducting a new search would not necessarily exclude any of the candidates from the first search.