ORANGE — The Selectboard has offered the municipality’s first town manager job to a former Eau Claire, Wisconsin, city manager who is relocating her family to Massachusetts.
Stephanie Hirsch said in a phone interview on Monday that she intends to accept the new position pending successful contract negotiations.
“I’m excited,” she said. “Orange is just a wonderful, beautiful place, and the people there are just so engaged.”
Residents voted 155-12 at a Jan. 12 Special Town Meeting in favor of an article pertaining to the adoption of a town charter to change and modernize the local government’s organizational structure and operation. Six and a half months later, Gov. Maura Healey signed into law a bill formally establishing the new form of government, and Orange’s charter went into effect on July 1.
The charter’s adoption creates a strong town manager role to serve as chief administrative officer and direct day-to-day operations across most of the municipal government structure. A 10-member Town Manager Screening Committee was tasked in May with accepting applications and whittling down the candidate pool to recommend finalists to the Selectboard, which interviewed four candidates and deliberated for nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes over the course of meetings on Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to Hirsch and current Orange Town Administrator Matthew Fortier, the Selectboard also interviewed former Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner and former Hubbardston Town Administrator Nathan Boudreau.
Fortier, 34, became town administrator on Aug. 21, 2023, resolving a four-month ordeal that saw two previous candidates getting their offers rescinded for undisclosed reasons. He replaced Gabriele Voelker, who retired on March 3 and billed Orange for hours worked as acting town administrator in the interim. Fortier had previously worked as the town’s health agent, starting in March 2020.
Fortier, who lives in Orange, told the Recorder on Monday that he was “still processing the vote.” He saw the town through various hardships, including remediation of the devastating 2022 fire at the former cereal factory and the fraudulent invoices that drained $338,000 from the town’s coffers in 2023. His wife is Town Clerk Rachael Fortier.
Hirsch told the Recorder that she was born and raised in Wisconsin, and lived with her family in Massachusetts for a while before everyone moved back so she could take the job as Eau Claire city manager in 2022.
“My heart’s in both places,” she said.
Hirsch said she resigned from the Eau Claire position in April to relocate her family to Massachusetts before her son starts high school. She explained she plans to live in an apartment in Orange while her husband and son live in Somerville, and she’ll take the commuter rail from Fitchburg to visit them. Hirsch also has two daughters — one of them is in college, and the other is about to start at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The public was invited to send letters of support for the candidates to Human Resources Director Kristen Cormier, who read them aloud on Saturday. One of the letters was written by Emily Anderson, a former Eau Claire City Council member who supervised Hirsch.
“In our city, we don’t have a mayor. Instead, the city’s chief executive — the city manager — is overseen by members of the City Council. Stephanie has been a gift for our city,” Anderson wrote. “A values-based leader, she brings strategic acumen, an inclusive vision and a commitment to both evidence-based decision-making and a fun, supportive work culture.
“As a city manager, Stephanie oversaw over 500 city employees and was responsible for turning the council’s policy direction into real outcomes across the organization,” she continued. “She worked to educate council members about strategic planning in a complex organization and then translated the strategic priorities she elicited into effective budgets and work plans, designed management structures and developed partnerships. Stephanie believes that public service can and should build greater equity in the community.”
Anderson also mentioned that Hirsch launched a popular weekly newsletter (tinyurl.com/EauClaireNewsletter) to keep residents informed of city topics when local news media capacity diminished. She said Hirsch is also a good people manager and recognizes individuals’ specific contributions in ways that make them feel valued.
“Under Stephanie’s leadership, I saw the workplace culture transform,” Anderson wrote. “People smiled more, joked more and seemed more confident about sharing their points of view.”
She also mentioned that Hirsch is courageous and steady in crises.
“During her tenure, the city dealt with many challenges, including a campaign targeting refugees,” she wrote. “It was a scary time, and Stephanie was a visible community leader, was subject to a lot of pressure. But, throughout, she maintained her calm commitment to an inclusive vision of a city where all people are welcome, and kept moving forward. Stephanie is a leader who holds true to what she knows is right.”
Emily Berge, a former Eau Claire City Council president and current congressional candidate, wrote a letter to explain that Hirsch managed a city with roughly 74,000 residents, 12 departments and a nearly $100 million operating budget. For comparison, Orange’s fiscal year 2027 budget is $29.3 million.
“She supervised diverse operational functions, including finance, public works, public safety, human resources and community services,” she wrote. “Stephanie possesses the rare ability to manage complex organizations while never losing sight of the people those organizations serve. She consistently shows up for the most vulnerable members of the community and has built meaningful relationships with historically underrepresented populations.”
During Sunday’s deliberations, Selectboard Chair Julie Davis mentioned she had received several emails related to the town manager search. She said three were in support of Fortier and one favored Hirsch. Member Kelli Gervais and Clerk Alexandre Schwanz said they received feedback describing Hirsch as refreshingly intense and energetic.
Selectboard members first eliminated Wedegartner and Boudreau from consideration and eventually compromised on selecting Hirsch. Davis and Vice Chair Reid Jeffries Anderson Jr. said their top pick was Fortier. Gervais’ first choice was Boudreau, whereas that distinction went to Hirsch for Schwanz and member David Ames.
Schwanz acknowledged, however, that he did not believe Hirsch had the strongest interview. He said he felt Hirsch seemed more nervous and uncomfortable than he would have expected “from somebody with such an impressive résumé.”
“Hirsch is the only finalist whose professional record includes extensive experience specifically as a professional municipal manager of a substantially large organization,” he read from notes he had taken.
Schwanz also said he loves that Hirsch considers community engagement to be her favorite aspect of the job.
Ames said he thought Hirsch had a lot of energy and excitement to bring to town.
“She’s got a tremendous background of knowledge,” he said.
Anderson said Orange needs its first town manager to pull the municipal government together. He acknowledged that other candidates had more analytical experience, “but what we need is a manager.”
Davis — like Anderson — said Hirsch was a close second choice for her, but Fortier won her over with his “dedication to the town.”
“What stood out to me, and made him a stronger candidate, was specifically the boots-on-the-ground experience and the willingness to step into whatever role is necessary,” she said. “I feel like other candidates coming from other places had people to do those things, and Matt is ‘the people.’ He would be the one doing the roles, rather than looking for other staff or whatever to do those.”
Davis said she also admires Fortier’s calm demeanor.
Gervais said she was impressed with Hirsch, and that Hirsch was her second choice.
“I thought she saw the importance of volunteers and the wealth of information in a community of volunteers,” she said. “She had done her homework on that, for sure.”
