Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/13/2015
LONGMEADOW – The town has hired a new Information Technology (IT) director and town accountant, both of which recently began work.
Superintendent of Schools Marie Doyle told Reminder Publications former IT Director Kevin Warenda, who was recruited to work at a private school in Connecticut, left the school district on June 30 after seven years.
She added eight candidates were interviewed during a month-long search and ultimately she hired Nicholas Jorge, a Ludlow resident and the former technology director for the Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, in mid-July.
“Nicholas brings a skill set that is wide and varied, which is what we need,” Doyle said. “The person whose taking this job – Nicholas – needs to understand the town’s side as well as the school side. He has a great understanding of software, hardware, and networking.”
Town Manager Stephen Crane said he participated in the screening process during which he served on a panel interviewing nine candidates. Initially close to 50 people applied to the position – a list that was narrowed down by the School Department.
He added that the screening panel determined three finalists out of the nine candidates, who were passed on to Doyle for her final decision.
Crane said the superintendent makes the IT director appointment because the department is housed in the school administration offices and the overall equipment demands and service calls are much more than prevalent within the school district.
Jorge’s starting salary is $100,000, which is a 5,000 increase from what Warenda received for the position, Doyle said. The decision to increase the IT Director salary was made due to “the demand of the market.”
Doyle said one of Jorge’s major tasks this year would be to reconvene the Technology Committee.
“We had a five-year technology plan that’s already been fully implemented,” she explained. “I’m looking to Nicholas to chair a committee that’s comprised of community residents, teachers, administrators, etcetera.”
The goal of the Technology Committee would be to develop a three to five-year plan to articulate the future direction regarding the town and school district’s technology improvements, Doyle said.
“I think [the Technology Committee] is going to be a very valuable resource,” Jorge said. “You’ll get more input from people – see what they think is working or what isn’t working [and] what opportunities exist.”
He added that the three-to five-year plan would be a constant evaluation.
“You don’t really know what’s going to the needs in five years,” Jorge said. “It’s really tough. It’s almost like a rolling plan. We can try to project out as much as we can, but we’ll always bee seeing if there’s new opportunities or room for improvement.”
Crane said he looks forward to working with Jorge regarding the town’s IT issues
“The town has just unveiled a new website,” he added. “The transition hasn’t gone as I’d hoped, so we need some extra help there. We’ve implemented new platforms for our permitting in the Building Department as well as a work management system in the [Department of Public Works (DPW)]. I expect to work closely with Nick in the coming months.”
Jorge said one issue regarding the new website was that documents hadn’t migrated from the old site to the new one. However, the vendor of the site, CivicPlus has made progress towards fixing this issue.
Crane said Jason DuCharme was recently hired as the new town accountant, replacing Sandra Choquette who retired on July 30 after working for more than eight years.
Crane said the town searched for candidates externally.
“Jason has demonstrated his abilities through his work as assistant town accountant, but also showed his potential by performing so well in the screening process,” he added.
Finance Director Paul Pasterczyk said 17 candidates applied to the position, four of which were interviewed.
He added that DuCharme would be working on more day-to-day items within the town as opposed to long-term planning, but DuCharme would also assist him and Crane by producing reports and relevant information for decision-making.
The position’s salary is approximately $78,000, Pasterczyk noted. DuCharme’s previous salary as assistant town accountant was about $58,000.
This summer, several other town employees retired, including Police Chief Robert Siano, DPW Director Michael Wrabel, Fire Chief Eric Madison, and Williams Middle School Principal Christopher Collins.
Crane said he believes the high turnover rate is the “front end” of a future massive exit from public service in many municipal positions across the Commonwealth, which he learned about from state officials during a regional roundtable meeting with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
“That is something that I know the Massachusetts Municipal Association is focused on,” he added. “People are not entering government service at the same rate that they are leaving government service.”
Crane said developing talent from within communities is becoming more important because of this issue.