ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen appointed another interim town administrator and a screening committee to narrow down candidates for the permanent post. 

 

Library Director Holli Jayko will have her responsibilities expanded to take on the administration role for at least the next couple of months. She will receive a stipend of $1,500 a week.

 

"I have found her to be a capable manager with the maturity and wisdom to fulfill this role until a full-time administrator takes office," the current interim administrator Kenneth Walto told the board. "Ms. Jayko will schedule her time, spending such extra time as required so that she will fulfill the duties of both positions."

 

Walton said Jayko had checked with the state Ethics Commission, as he requested, and then he followed up with town counsel to make sure the appointment was being done correctly.

 

The retired Dalton town manager was hired as a part-time interim in December upon the departure of Jay Green. He has run out the number of hours he can work and Jayko will take over as of Saturday, Aug. 16. 

 

Chair John Duval said he and Walto had reviewed possibilities for a department head to take over as interim, in  response to questions from Selectman Joseph Nowak.

 

"So just going through the list of our department heads, we started with the first name, and if she said, 'No,' it's on to the next person," said Duval. "Because we don't know how long this is going to take, this interim position, the person who does this should be a department head."

 

Nowak asked why it hadn't been Donna Cesan, who stepped in previously, or Town Clerk Haley Meczywor. Duval said Cesan had indicated she was not interested and Selectwoman Christine Hoyt pointed out that elected officials cannot fill that post. Nowak thought Duval gave a "false statement" about Cesan, saying it was not what she told him; Duval said he'd spoken with her since then. Nowak also expressed frustration about not knowing about the appointment until the agenda came out; Duval said all the members get an agenda draft on Friday before a meeting and that they can contact the town administrator with questions.

 

Jayko has been the library for 23 years, the last nine as director. She holds a degree from Boston Baptist College and worked in the private sector as a personnel manager and in banking, and said yes to the post to for the experience.

 

"Well, to help out the town originally, make sure that keep things, keep moving forward and try something new," Jayko said afterward. "I've been here for 23 years, I've been in the library, and I'm excited to kind of try something out."

 

The board also appointed Jonathan Butler, Jerome Socoloff, Jackie Kelly Olsen, Carol Cushenette, Kelly Ryan, Sarah Fontaine and Robert Pytko to the town administrator screening committee. The panel will work with search consultant Richard White of Groux-White Consulting LLC. 

 

Each board member was invited to submit the names of up to two people for the committee and cited their experiences as the reasons they were chosen. Selectwoman Ann Bartlett said she had missed the deadline to submit. 

 

The establishment of a screening committee had come up at last week's meeting, when White expected he would have at least four candidates to put forward. 

 

In other business, the board approved a one-day malt and wine license for the Bounti-Fare to serve at the Adams Theater on Aug. 16 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and went into executive session to discuss a subordination request for 71 North Summer St. under the Community Development Block Grant's Housing Rehabilitation deferred loan program.