Clarksburg Town Adminstrator Finalist Withdraws

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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Selectmen will have to determine what to do next after the board's first choice for the post of town administrator has withdrawn.

John Sanguinet of Plymouth has taken his name out of running after a contract agreement could not be reached.

The board is scheduled to meet tomorrow and Monday to discuss options. Applications for the post, with a starting salary of $38,000 to $41,000 with sick days and vacation time dictated by the employee handbook, are being accepted until it's filled.

Sanguinet withdrew Friday, the deadline the board set for an answer and three days after being the lone interview for a town administrator post in Northfield. That full-time post has a starting range between $61,000 and $75,000.

Northfield has not made a decision and a Greenfield Recorder story cites board members as looking for more feedback from others and possibly pulling in another candidate to interview to "be fair."



Clarksburg is seeking a replacement for retired Town Administrator Thomas Webb, who was hired two years. Officials eschewed a search committee this time around, having Webb forward qualified candidates directly to the Board of Selectmen. The town received about 15 applicants and interviewed four, although the board had originally scheduled for six.

Northfield is on its second search to fill a post left vacant last fall. According to the Recorder, the town's initial search "netted dozens" of candidates, none of whom made the grade, and the second search 23, of which a number of semi-finalists withdrew or took other posts. Sanguinet, who has an extensive background in municipal finance, was one of only two finalists; the second withdrew.

Clarksburg also interviewed former Selectman Carl McKinney, Great Barrington Health Director Mark Pruhenski and former Becket Town Administrator Craig Kleman.
 


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Q&A with State Representative Challenger Andrew Fitch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Sept. 1, voters in the First Berkshire District will decide whether they want to send a new representative to Beacon Hill in Boston.
 
Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary.
 
There is no Republican on the primary ballot for the First Berkshire seat so the primary will effectively be the election for the seat. 
 
The two candidates met for their only debate on Aug. 13 at Williams College. iBerkshires.com reached out to both candidates to follow up on some of the points raised in the debate and get their thoughts on some other issues facing the district.
 
Below are excerpts from a conversation with challenger Andrew Fitch:
 
Question: From the very beginning, you talked about the campaign as a listening experience, and this week you're continuing that with the bike tour …
 
Andrew Fitch: Knocking on doors that have never been knocked on before. … I was riding through, I believe it was Hinsdale coming into Windsor, and they started to yell at me, 'No!' And then the guy was like, 'Wait a second. That's Andrew Fitch.' They actually knew who I was, and they were actually wanting to chat with me.
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