Four Possible Candidates for Adams Administrator
ADAMS, Mass. — The consultant hired to find potential candidates for the town administrator post said the search has been slow.
Search consultant Richard White of Groux-White Consulting LLC of Lexington told the board during a recorded meeting last week that it's been a slow process since the job was advertised on July 18.
"There's Eastern Standard Time, and there's Berkshire summertime, and their responses have been slow but steady," he said, speaking over Zoom. "I think within two weeks, I'm going to be able to present you with four candidates that I could stand behind, and I believe that are capable of doing the job."
White said he's still making some contacts and one of the four has not yet committed but he anticipated that would happen within a few days.
"Two of them have local ties, have what I call periphery or accessory experience of local government ... I think their affinity and understanding of Adams, its culture, its people, its politics, may be a good option for you," he said. "The two other candidates I have are more traditional. They have municipal experience. ...
"In total, I think it will present the board with a good menu of options for it to consider."
White said he contacted every manager in the Western Mass community and the 27 border communities in Vermont and New York State, and sent out 400 invitations and brochures.
I can't say that it was successful, but you know, I've made a lot of contacts. I've got a lot of feedback," he said. "It's helped me understand the community and some of its challenges and how candidates might see it, and I think it's helped me develop, you know, some decent candidates for you to consider."
The town is seeking to replace Jay Green, who left to take the town manager post in Lenox earlier this year. White thought Green may have shared a less-than-enthusiastic experience with his peers; he was careful to say he was not making any accusations, just something he had inferred from conversations.
"Apparently, Adams has a little bit of a reputation of some difficulties that have gotten in the way of governance, but they're not insurmountable," he said. "It's required that I do a lot of work undoing it and explaining the opportunities that exist here.
"Seasoned, experienced administrators, managers want an environment where there's a diversity of opinion on the board, but a history of the board working well together, and that has been a challenge for me to get over a little bit."
Along with Green's departure, the town lost the community development director, the community development program director and the finance director. Chair John Duval had pointed to a barrage of public beratement of the officials as the reason for the exodus.
White said he'd had as many as 11 candidates but two withdrew "after talking to people in Adams." They wouldn't tell him who they spoke with.
"I believe that people that serve on the Board of Selectmen have voices, and they should be able to pass on their voice any way they want," said Selectman Joseph Nowak. "I felt, as you were talking about the board, that it's a board that is kind of like cantankerous, or that things don't run smooth, but that's what government is all about, for people to go back and forth with their ideas whether other people on the board don't like them. That's New England. That's the birthplace of democracy."
Nowak said he wasn't a "cliquey" board person and asked if his colleagues had indicated he was the one that wouldn't conform. White said he was being generic and that "not one of them have shared a negative word about you or said anything untoward about you."
He was just sharing data on perceptions he was getting, not commenting on whether those perceptions were real or not.
"I spent a lot of time talking about the opportunity, but you know, I'm also sharing with you potential candidates perspectives of the dynamics that exist here," White said.
The question came up of a screening committee. White said he was unaware there plans for a committee but would be willing to work with one. Duval asked the board would want to dispense with a committee as the interim town administrator would be leaving in days and it could take six to eight weeks to bring on the new administrator.
Nowak said he was disappointed in Duval not moving forward on the screening committee after asking board members to submit two candidates months ago. Selectwoman Christine Hoyt said she was in favor of a screening committee if there are four or five candidates since the first interview would be done publicly.
Great Barrington's gone out twice for a town manager, rejecting two finalists in the first round and then having their only choice in the second round turn the job down, noted Nowak. White said he fully vets the candidates and assured him the four he will present are "see value and opportunity in in Adams."
They were going to be someone who's had some success in an alternative career or someone young and ambitious in municipal work," he said. "Quite frankly, ... all four the candidates that I think would rise to the top, whether through the screening committee or directly to me to you ... That's the profile."
The board will take up the potential for a screening committee at its meeting on Wednesday.
In other business, the board:
• Named Daniel Doyle as executive director of the Greylock Glen Outdoor Center at a Grade 15, Step 7 salary of $94,556.
• Appointed Lisa Mendel and Linda Cernik to one-year terms on the Board of Health with the approval of the board's only member Kathy "Skippy" Hynes, who said, "I think they're they have a high ethical standard, they have integrity, they're honest, they they're loyal, and I think they have a lot of diversity that they can share." The seats will be up for election next May.
• Named Selectman Jay Meczywor to represent Adams at the North Region caucus to vote for a member and alternate to the Metropolitan Planning Organization. The MPO, which operates through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and the state Department of Transportation, priorities highway and transportation projects for Berkshire County. It consists of representatives from four subregions and the two cities. The caucus will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 5:30 p.m. at North Adams City Hall. The North Region consists of Adams, Clarksburg, Florida, New Ashford, Savoy and Williamstown.
• Approved of fiscal 2026 intergovernmental agreement with BRPC for economic development services at a cost of $10,000.
• Appointed election workers for the next year, authorized the police chief to assign officers for the annual town election and tabled an executive session until next meeting because the agenda item was missing information.
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