NORTHFIELD — The search for a new town administrator will be guided and assisted by an outside company, per the Selectboard’s decision Wednesday night.
The company is Community Paradigm Associates, based in Plymouth. The Selectboard did not sign any paperwork or set a date to meet with the company, but Selectman Alex Meisner said that he hoped to meet with them and start the process “as soon as possible.”
A new town administrator is needed since the town parted ways with Willie Morales at the end of March. Bernie Kubiak was appointed interim town administrator in May but has maintained that he is not interested in applying for the full-time position.
Bernie Lynch, the founder and principal of Community Paradigm, said that the process normally takes about 16 weeks. It involves meeting with town employees to learn about the issues in town and what the town administrator position does.
“Our goal is really to get a good understanding of all those issues so we can then put together a position profile that we use to market the position to potential applicants,” Lynch said. “We find it’s also a great process for a community to go through — leaving everything aside, stepping back and trying to identify what the issues are and what the assets of the individual who will be hired should be, is a worthwhile use of time.”
Community Paradigm will find a pool of about 35 to 40 applicants, Lynch said, then work with a screening committee to narrow that pool to about five to eight whom the committee will interview. The screening committee often comprises residents of the town, he said.
“They’ll try to make it as easy as they can for us, without confusion or frustration,” Meisner said.
Kubiak’s contract expires in September but can be extended if the hiring process takes longer than that, which Lynch said it would.