Four vie for Longmeadow town manager job
Date: 6/18/2012
June 18, 2012By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comLONGMEADOW — The final candidates for the soon to be vacant position of town manager may be decided at the Select Board's June 18 meeting.
After an interview process of four candidates that lasted nearly seven hours on June 13, the Select Board agreed to take some time to review the information gathered and come back to the table at its next scheduled meeting to discuss and decide upon which candidates fit the town's needs best.
From there, representatives from the Select Board will visit the towns of the finalists before making a final decision.
The candidates are vying for the position being vacated by Robin Crosbie, who announced her intention to seek new employment last fall. The town of Ipswich's Board of Selectmen recently voted to begin contract negotiations with her.
Former Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan, currently the town administrator for Maynard, headlined the group of four candidates interviewed by the Select Board, which also included Peter Graczykowski, city manager for East Providence, R.I., Mark Stankiewicz, who recently resigned as town manager of Plymouth, and Thomas Guerino, town administrator for Bourne.
"I've lived here [in the Pioneer Valley] my entire life," Sullivan, who served as Holyoke's mayor for 10 years before being succeeded by Elaine Pluta in 2010, said. "Western Massachusetts is very appealing and Longmeadow is very appealing."
Sullivan pointed to his experience in municipal government as a strength and when asked by Selectman Paul Santaniello how his experience with larger communities would translate to Longmeadow, he shrugged off the assertion that it would be a major challenge.
"I think my experience gives me a sound foundation," he said. "Every community I have gone to has the impression that they are completely different. Culturally they are, but really it comes down to communicating and understanding what people's needs are."
He touted his intention to involve department heads in formulating long-term goals for Longmeadow.
"When working with department managers, it is critically important to plan for this fiscal year and beyond. You have to make sure that department heads understand what the goals of that department and the town are," he said, adding later that he would also call on the Select Board and citizenry to guide him in understanding what those goals are. "My managing style attempts to be inclusive, but decisive. It's important to have the right people in the room, but you have to be ready to make the difficult decision, which may not be popular."
He also identified maintaining home values and parks and recreation as well as continuing to build a partnership with Bay Path College as priorities for the town.
Graczykowski, who lived in Longmeadow for eight years and was previously employed by the cities of Chicopee and Springfield before becoming assistant town manager in Vernon, Conn., and eventually city manager in East Providence, said he planned to work collaboratively with the Select Board.
"It has to be a working partnership," he said. "Ultimately the Select Board is the boss of the town manager and I would take direction from you. Communication has to be frequent."
Graczykowski touted his abilities with finance and management as strengths.
"The goal is to provide a good service at a reasonable cost. That's what I'm good at making sure there is accountability and making sure people do their best with what they have to work with," he said.
Graczykowski added that the town should continue to look toward consolidation and regionalization of services to keep costs down, stating that he had successfully consolidated the information technology departments for the city and school system as well as the human resources and finance departments in East Providence while regionalizing animal control and emergency dispatch.
He also said he wished to maintain a close relationship with the school department and School Committee, which makes up a substantial portion of the budget.
"I went to every School Committee meeting [in East Providence] because these are issues that affect the town," he said. "We can't control them, but we can work with them. I don't see it as, 'Here's 50 percent of the budget, do what you'd like with it.'"
He lauded the town for addressing what he identified as its most pressing need in building the new high school and said the town must now address the aging infrastructure, Department of Public Works facilities, town offices and middle schools.
Stankiewicz served at the town administrator in Webster and Stoughton prior to taking the job as town manager in Plymouth, from which he resigned in April, eight months before his contract was set to expire. He did not expound upon the circumstances.
He said he hoped to form "collaborative relationships with board members, department heads and residents."
"I plan to have scheduled time and unscheduled time with department heads," he said. "For boards, commissions and the community, you've got to get out there and be active. A lot of times you can be stuck in the government bubble and you need to get out of that bubble."
He pointed to his ability to bring an Ikea store to the town of Stoughton as one example of his ability to work collaboratively.
"It created revenue for the town and 400 jobs and it was a project that put Stoughton on the map," he said. "I brought folks together in a room to get what they wanted up front. There's nothing worse than when at the 11th hour someone is saying they need something."
When asked by Selectman Mark Barowsky if working in Longmeadow would be boring for him after working in larger communities, Stankiewicz replied, "There's always something to fill your day. The Collins Center [of Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston] said this was a very good community and bigger is not necessarily better. It's just a matter of adjusting."
He added that he would take a pro-active approach to the job.
"I think part of my job is to bring issues to the Select Board and offer suggestions and opinions on how they can be solved," he said. "If you want someone to take orders, you want an executive secretary or a town administrator."
He also touted his ability to communicate with the public.
"I can take an issue and make it understandable to average folks," he said.
When asked to identify ways to relieve the burden off the residential tax base, he said that under its current structure, the town would be hard pressed to do so.
"Unless there is a policy shift or change to bring in industrial or commercial, I don't think you can," he said. "One option is to rezone and rebuild. It's a straight jacket. I wish I had a magic bullet, but I don't."
Guerino, a Greenfield native, who has served as the town administrator for Bourne for more than seven years and has 31 years of experience in public service, expressed excitement at the opportunity to work in Longmeadow.
"I like Western Massachusetts and I like the Pioneer Valley. This is a good town," he said, comparing Longmeadow to Chatham. "I felt I could bring something to what is considered one of the plum communities to be town manager in.
Guerino echoed Stankiewicz's position on the tax burden.
"I don't have a magic answer and anyone who says they do is selling snake oil," he said, adding that the town should continue to look at its payment in lieu of taxes agreement with Bay Path College and explore regionalization to cut costs.
He pointed to the large portion of the budget that is handed to the school department as one area that should be addressed as well.
"I would take the same approach as I would with other departments," he said. "I think we have to hold education to a high standard, but I think we need to have a frank discussion with the school department about the needs of the town."
One thing most of the candidates agreed upon is the assertion that free cash should not be used to balance the budget, but rather to fund one-time and capital expenses. Guerino took a different approach, stating that those funds could be used for balancing the budget "if you have a well-plotted long-form budget scenario" in which the money is repaid.
