Marion approaches final interviews for Town Administrator

Mar 20, 2019

MARION — Selectmen heard a presentation from Bernie Lynch with Community Paradigm Associates, the consultant that Marion hired to help expedite the Town Administrator  search process.

Lynch presented two finalists identified by a Town Administrator Screening Committee to the Board on March 19, and requested the Selectmen step in to interview them.

The Committee was able to narrow down the 37 application to four finalists, which it was prepared to present to the Board. Then, over the weekend, two of those candidates withdrew their applications.

Still, “I spoke with the committee and there was a comfort level that this would be  a good person to offer the position,” Lynch said.

The first finalist, Lisa Green, is currently the assistant town administrator in Whitman, MA, and has held that position for two years now.

She is involved in all aspects of town administration, including but not limited to grant management, budget, personnel matters and collective bargaining.

Before serving as a town administrator she served as a member of the Board of Selectmen in Whitman, and prior to that she was a lawyer who worked in federal government for a time.

Lynch thought Green offered a good educational background as well as the municipal administration

The other candidate, Adam Wilson of Aquinnah, MA, on Martha’s Vineyard, currently serves as town administrator there.

Lynch explained Aquinnah is a complex community, because it has both Wampanoag tribes to negotiate with and federal property within the town to add complexity to the position.

In addition, Wilson took on a complex project of moving an operating lighthouse. He had to negotiate with the federal government on that project.

Aquitta served as town administrator for almost seven years, and prior to that worked as a zoning administrator for six years.

The Board of Selectmen plans to interview both candidates March 25. Wilson will have his interview from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m., and Green will have hers from 7 to 8 p.m.