Crane officially takes over as town manager
Date: 4/11/2013
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comLONGMEADOW — Longmeadow welcomed its second full-time town manager last week with Stephen Crane assuming the position on April 2.
Crane's hiring put to rest an arduous process, which resulted in three separate searches and two unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a contract with a finalist.
With the uncertainty of the position now in the past, the town and Crane are looking forward.
Crane joined the town after holding the position of city administrator for Lancaster, Wis., a community with a population of approximately 4,000 people, for four years.
A Massachusetts native from Lowell, he has a bachelor's degree from the University of Syracuse and a master's degree from George Washington University.
Crane explained that he had been looking for a change and a return to New England recently and was very excited to have the opportunity in Longmeadow, not only because of his professional interests, but and personal ones as well.
"When the opportunity to work in Longmeadow came up, it was really ideal," he said. "[My wife and I] have twins that are in second grade and their education is their top priority and we wanted a community that had a great school system and Longmeadow is obviously very highly regarded in that department.
"Longmeadow is also close to a diverse urban experience while still retaining the small-town feel that we enjoyed in Lancaster," he continued.
While his professional career started on Capital Hill in Washington D.C., Crane said he hit is stride professionally when he became involved in municipal government.
Crane got his start through an internship with a congressman from Lowell, later worked in a few different offices and a lobbying firm and eventually moved to Wisconsin to work for a representative from the south side of Milwaukee.
After his first stint in Wisconsin, during which he met his wife, a Lancaster native, he moved to Lowell where he oversaw city urban renewal projects.
"That was really my first municipal government job. I really enjoyed it because even though I like policy analysis and policy development, the municipal work was much more tangible and I felt like I was having so much more of a direct positive impact," he recalled
Later, he worked in the economic development office in Worcester.
"I was one of those Eastern Massachusetts people who didn't think anything existed west of 495," he said with a smile. "Worcester really opened my eyes not only to Central Massachusetts, but Western Massachusetts and how great it is out here."
Eventually, he found his way back to Wisconsin where he accepted the city administrator position in Lancaster.
Now in Longmeadow, Crane foresaw the biggest difference between his current position and his previous one is the inclusion of the schools in the town government.
"In Lancaster, the schools were their own separate taxing jurisdiction," he said. "The city had some institutional relationships and some partnerships, but the schools were not part of the city government. Here, they are a part of the government, and a substantial part."
Crane said he also looked forward to working with a larger budget and a larger group of employees than he did in Lancaster.
He also pointed out key cultural differences between the two towns. Lancaster, he explained, was a full-service city, but was agriculturally driven. While there are differences, Crane said he hopes he can incorporate things he learned in Wisconsin to his approach to the new position.
"There are many parts of the culture of the Midwest and Lancaster that are very positive and you might not experience in Massachusetts that I hope to bring back with me here and show people in Longmeadow," he said. "Likewise, when I went from Lowell to Lancaster, there were parts of the culture of Massachusetts that I tried to show folks. At times it was well-received and I hope it goes as well on this end."
Crane said that what will make his transition to Longmeadow smoother is the approach he has developed over the years.
"Things can be different, but a consistent approach is really what I strive for and I think in my career I've demonstrated," he said. "My education, my job experience, my training and my life lessons have all kind of blended together to form an operational philosophy, a management style and a communication style that requires consistency and fairness."
Crane said he didn't have any reservations about managing a budget that he did not have a hand in developing, as will be the case in fiscal year 2014 (FY14).
"The interim manager, Barry Del Castilho, has done a very good job serving the community and trying to put some of the major issues the town has to confront in a good place so someone like me coming in here new isn't completely overwhelmed right from the get-go," he said. "As I've gotten through the first week here, I've talked to town personnel and department heads and the school superintendent to get an idea what has gone on and to get a feel for the budgeting process, which I was not a part of. I've been able to assess how that process has worked in the past.
"The institutional partnerships and structures are strong, so I don't think it's a big deal that the budget was done with an interim town manager as opposed to a full-time town manager. The same level of professionalism and care went into it," he added.
Crane went on to say that with the knowledge he has already gained on the budgeting process, he is formulating a plan on how to apply his approach to the FY15 budgeting process.
It is his goal to make sure the town's budgeting is "an organic process," he explained.
"When possible, the budget process should be a daily effort," he said. "The communication and relationship building that goes into the policy development process should be worked on everyday. Data, numbers, counting, that doesn't happen everyday, but the commitment to work together and find efficiencies wherever we can, that should be a daily process so you can avoid the once-a-year showdowns that can sometimes happen."
Crane said he was looking forward to getting the process started, based on the talent he has found in the town.
"The commitment is there to get it done," he said. "The community that has talented, committed people will always succeed and I certainly think we have that."
When overseeing departments, Crane said he hoped to have a relationship that fostered an atmosphere of teamwork and open communication in order to make sure operations are running as efficiently as possible.
"I don't look to make changes for changes' sake, but I don't always think that the way things have always been done should be the way to continue to do them," he said. "It's really about drilling down into operations and asking questions about the way things are done, why they are done that way and if there is a different way we can do it. If there isn't, we stay status quo, but if there is, maybe we make a change.
"Change is going to be based on input and conversations and teamwork. The department heads here are very good. Longmeadow really is blessed to have a great team of department heads and I don't think just because I'm the town manager and technically above them on the organizational charts, that I'm smarter than them. On the contrary, I look forward to learning about how things operate from them," he continued.
Crane said he would maintain an open door policy with the public; however, his role is very specific and he would rely on the Select Board to point him in the right direction when it comes to the needs of members of the community.
"The Select Board are the elected officials and it is their primary role to ensure that they are communicating with the public and understanding what the needs of the public are and being responsive to that. I respond to the needs and views of the Select Board," he said. "This office is the people's office and so people can certainly come discuss things directly with me, but if they want to discuss local politics, that's not really what this office is about. If they want to discuss the condition of their road or praise the work of a town employee, that's the type of thing people will reach out to this office and communicate."
