Lanesborough Chooses New Town Administrator
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| John Mason |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board has named longtime Easthampton official John Mason as the new town administrator after interviewing him and one other candidate on Tuesday.
About 45 applications were received. Eleven were brought before the seven-member selection committee. From that pool, the committee brought forward two candidates to the Select Board: Mason, Easthampton's director of Parks And Recreation, and Allison Schmitt, executive director for Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll).
During the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, the board voted, 4-1, to offer the post to Mason, following a meeting that lasted more than two hours.
Prior to the interviews, the board bid farewell to outgoing Town Administrator Gina Dario, who is taking a position as Adams' new Community Development Director. Her last day is Friday, but she will be a resource to Lanesborough to ensure a smooth transition.
Mason brings about 20 years of experience in municipal government, including the last 17 years as director of Parks And Recreation in Easthampton, where his responsibilities included grant writing, managing state and federal grants, overseeing budgets, and managing projects.
Prior to that, he served as executive director of a Boys & Girls Club near Boston, where he developed his grant-writing experience. He credits that role with helping him grow.
"We were trying to run an operation on good feelings and no money. It's tough to operate that way. So it was very challenging, and I had to learn how to grant write and to do it well," he said.
Mason said the Boys & Girls Club chapter was "bankrupt" when he took over but was able to turn its finances around during his tenure. After his departure, the organization was nominated for the PGA Tour's Charity of the Year award, he said.
Prior to the interview, Mason said, he looked into several items facing the town, including the future of the mall property, the town budget, and its legislative working group.
"I've done some research on the town. There's a lot of professional and experienced people in the community that work for the town to support them. This is not a town that is going backward by any stretch. So, I don't need to come in and change a lot of things. I need to add on and provide the extra services," he said, whether it's his grant writing and legislative experience or supporting the staff.
Mason emphasized the need to "not take taxpayer dollars for granted," calling for proactive financial planning and regular oversight.
He said he would aim to reconcile the town's finances monthly while regularly meeting with department heads to review budgets and spending, identify concerns early, and plan for major capital expenses before those costs become urgent.
"One thing I notice in this community ... it's a relatively smaller community, so bigger dollar impact projects and overruns have a much bigger impact on the tax base here compared to a 16,000-person community where it can be spread out much further," he said.
The decision to hire Mason was nearly unanimous, with board members speaking favorably about his municipal experience and ability to step quickly into the position.
"I think that [Mason] has that experience; he has that momentum already there. He's done his research. He's done his diligence to learn what the town has already done," said Jason Breault, board member. "And I think they both have good qualities. But ... he's ready to go to the ground running. He can do the job if he's hired."
Both Breault and board member Deborah Maynard highlighted the research on the town Mason did prior to the interview.
"When we sat and we interviewed all these people, [Schmitt] blew me away. She is so in tune with people. I guess I think that impressed me the most with her. She does have grant writing experience, but not I guess to the extent that [Mason] does," Maynard said, mentioning how the town is "really" in need of state and federal funding. "[Mason] takes the initiative to go to the Statehouse. He takes the initiative to talk to the representatives, the senators.
Board member Juli Baker was the only board member to vote against the hiring in favor of Schmitt. She also served on the selection committee.
"Mason comes across as a very dedicated and high deliverer with experience in grant writing, budgets, and leadership in a parks department for a municipality larger than Lanesborough, which would translate well," she said.
However, Baker said she was looking for an administrator who could bring more energy and breadth of experience to the role, particularly in human resources and personnel management.
"When I look at Allison, she does not have the municipal experience, but she's done a lot of other things that translate, and I think, you know, looks like she'd be a pretty quick study to learn what she needed to learn," Baker said. "After meeting both of them twice, my personal feeling is I'm leaning toward Allison because of that difference of energy and breadth of experience and understanding of sort of human behavior, her mediation skills that she brings to the table."
As the executive director for EforAll, Schmitt managed multiple programs and teams; supported entrepreneurs and small businesses; built community partnerships; managed a $350,000 budget; wrote and reported on grants; and built partnerships with businesses, volunteers, and community organizations
Schmitt acknowledged there would be a learning curve when it came to the municipal aspects of the position but said the opportunity to learn those processes was something she found exciting.
"I love a process and I love learning a new thing," she said. "I love to do professional development, but learning those pieces is something that's very new and exciting for me, not something that would deter me from wanting to move forward."
Tags: Lanesborough,
