Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/2/2022
BLANDFORD – Christopher Dunne will begin as the new town administrator on March 7, a date that town officials have been eagerly awaiting.
“He can’t start soon enough, in my book,” said Joann Martin, administrative assistant to the Selectboard.
Since former Town Administrator Joshua Garcia left in the fall to successfully run for mayor of Holyoke, the town has had two interim administrators, and is looking forward, according to chair Cara Letendre, “to continuing with the impressive growth and progress we have made in the last few years.”
That progress is what drew Dunne to apply for the position. A Northampton native with ties to Chester, he previously worked for state Sen. Ben Downing and state Sen. Adam G. Hinds in their Boston office while receiving a master’s degree in public administration from UMass-Boston. For the past several years, he has been working as a senior planner for Highland Planning LLC in Rochester, N.Y.
Dunne said he became interested in Blandford after it made national news a few years ago, when the Police Department resigned en masse. He said he was impressed with how town officials responded, eventually signing a shared services agreement to form the Chester-Blandford Police Department.
“I feel like they made lemonade out of lemons, took a situation with a lot of acrimony and challenges and were able to turn things around,” he said.
He said he’s continued to keep an eye on Blandford since then, including keeping up with Garcia’s work as town administrator.
“They have a good volunteer ethic and people interested in solving problems,” Dunne said. “I knew a little bit about the status of Blandford. It’s a beautiful little community. I’m excited to go to work there.”
Dunne said his initial goals will include continuing the work that Garcia began on tightening up financial management in the town and establishing proper protocols.
He said Blandford has also just been through a planning process and has created a Master Plan for the community, which he called “a good place to start.”
Two major projects that are already underway are the redesign of the Town Common by closing off a portion of North Blandford Road, and building a new Highway Department facility and re-purposing the existing Highway Department facility as a new fire station.
In advance of his start date, Dunne said he has been reaching out to department heads, board members and commissioners to find out what their priorities are, and how he can help them advance in the next few months.
Dunne said the town administrator position will be full-time, and he plans to hold regular office hours once he settles in. He may be reached at administrator@townofblandford.com or by calling Town Hall at 848-4279, ext. 502.