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Manager finalists pared to 3
(Sun, The (Lowell, MA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 10--GROTON -- Town manager finalist Owen Quinn stepped into the selectmen's meeting room on Wednesday to find an unruly crowd ready to shoot questions at him.
One of them could hardly wait to complain about the snow on the sidewalk around some school bus stops. Another man wanted Quinn to explain why the town should hire a town manager, saying the change in the form of government diminishes citizens' power.
In the next room, a woman asked another finalist, Tim McInerney, what he would do if lightning struck Town Hall, destroying part of it at 5 in the morning. She wanted to know whom he'd call first, whether he'd come out to see the fire and why.
These were some of the scenes from the Assessment Center, a series of exercises held on Wednesday to test the Groton town manager finalists' skills in "real life scenarios." The custom-developed test cost the town $6,300, but selectmen say it helped them narrow the candidate pool from five to three almost immediately.
"It was very, very revealing," Selectmen Chairman Joshua Degen said of the test. "It certainly showed the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates."
"I think that the Assessment Center helped to reinforce some of the thoughts I had (on the candidates)," Selectman Fran Dillon agreed.
The Board of Selectmen announced yesterday they have selected three town manager finalists. They are: Mark Haddad, former Littleton town administrator; Timothy McInerney, former Seekonk town administrator;
and Owen Quinn, former town manager of Winsted, Conn. Removed from the process were Acton Assistant Town Manager John Murray and former Lynnfield Selectman Robert Whalen.
The board selected the three finalists unanimously during their meeting directly following the Assessment Center test on Wednesday. The board will interview the finalists in a second-round of interviews on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m., and will appoint a town manager in a meeting to be held on Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. Both meeting will take place at Town Hall.
The selectmen said choosing three out of the five qualified candidates was difficult. But Degen said selectmen would not have narrowed the candidate pool had it not been for the Assessment Center.
The selectmen's move on Sept. 15 to hire the MMA Consulting Group of Boston to develop the Assessment Center test was met with some opposition because the board had to extend the Oct. 7 deadline specified under the town charter for the hiring of a town manager to accommodate the company's schedule.
The town used the Assessment Center last fall when it hired a police chief, and many of those involved in the process said the test was extremely useful in evaluating the critical-thinking and communication skills of the candidates. Selectman Peter Cunningham pushed for the test, saying it's most important for the board to choose the right candidate for the job, but Degen opposed spending the money for the test that is more geared toward public-safety jobs than town-manager positions.
Degen said yesterday, however, he is glad the town held the test. The most interesting exercises included some questions about dealing with the elected highway surveyor, Degen said, because it revealed the individuals' management styles. The recently adopted town charter allows the town manager to look into the possibility of establishing a Public Works Department.
Dillon, who also opposed the test originally, said the scenarios involving the highway surveyor position as well as the "in-basket exercise" -- which required the candidates to respond to notes in his inbox -- were particularly helpful.
Both Dillon and Selectwoman Anna Eliot said they paid attention to the candidates' interpersonal skills. Eliot said the test also allowed candidates to demonstrate their financial knowledge.
Whoever is appointed, selectmen are expected to negotiate a salary between $95,000 and $115,000 -- a range recommended by the Personnel Board. Murray and Whalen, the two eliminated from the process, had the highest salary requirements among all the finalists -- $140,000-$145,000 and $130,000-$132,000 respectively. But Degen said the board didn't consider salary requirements when whittling down the finalists pool.
"It didn't enter into my thinking," Eliot said, adding that the decision was solely based on the candidates' qualification and performances.
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Copyright (c) 2008, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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