NORTHFIELD — In its search for a permanent town administrator, the Selectboard is considering hiring an outside company to seek and vet applicants for the job.
Interim Town Administrator Bernie Kubiak said that he proposed the idea to the Selectboard about two weeks ago. The company he has in mind, Community Paradigm Associates, is based in Plymouth and has recently worked with several towns in the Berkshires on similar searches for executive positions.
The Selectboard is scheduled to discuss the proposal and possibly make a decision on it at its meeting on today, Wednesday, 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
“I’m hoping the board will get started with that process,” Kubiak said, adding that the process of finding a new town administrator is “not far along at all.”
Kubiak was hired as an interim town administrator in May, following the dismissal of Northfield’s previous town administrator, Willie Morales. Since he was hired, Kubiak has maintained that he has no interest in the permanent position. Per his contract, Kubiak’s term as town administrator ends on Sept. 30, but he said that the contract may be extended depending on how long the search process takes.
If the Selectboard agrees to outsource the search process, Community Paradigm Associates would review a larger pool of applicants than the Selectboard would be able to on its own. The company would then narrow the pool to about five applicants who would be reviewed by a committee of Northfield residents. The final applicants would be interviewed by the Selectboard.
The whole process could go to November, Kubiak said.
Although the Selectboard has not discussed any of this yet, board members Alex Meisner and Julia Blyth were both optimistic about the prospect of hiring an outside company to do the search. Both emphasized the value of having a large pool of qualified applicants, which would be difficult for the Selectboard to find on its own. Selectboard Chairwoman Tracy Rogers was unavailable for comment.