Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
| By Levon Kinney Correspondent WILBRAHAM - A lone final candidate for town administrator met for the first time with the Board of Selectmen. Robert Weitz, who is currently town administrator for the town of Sheffield, Mass. answered questions from the board while sitting in the administrators' chair. Selectman David Barry asked Weitz to give a brief summary of how he came to seek the position. "I've been in Sheffield for the past 15 years," Weitz explained. "I started out as town director of Millbury for five years, and then practiced law for a few years. I managed a company in Sturbridge for several years, and was also a Selectman in the town of West Brookfield." Weitz has two sons in college and said that he would like to work for a larger community but is looking to stay in Western Massachusetts. "Could you describe Sheffield, the form of Government and what your role was?" Selectman James Thompson asked. Weitz described the town as having a year-round population of 3,500 with another 1,500 residents during the summer. A legislative charter was adopted in the mid-1980s which gave the town a Board of Selectmen and a town administrator and now employs 25 full-time employees. Sheffield is part of a regional school district and has a $7.5 million annual budget. "When you are an administrator in a small town you have to wear many hats," Weitz explained. "Among other things, I was director of human resources, project engineer and if we had an I.T. department, I would have been in charge. "This has been a very interesting and very positive experience," Weitz said. "Everything I have seen and read about Wilbraham has made me feel like I could be at home." The board asked Weitz to be patient until they could deliberate in executive session all the details of his contract. |