ORANGE — The town administrator has been offered the municipality’s first town manager job, after a nearly month-long saga that saw the Selectboard’s top pick withdraw from the process due to feeling uneasy about the divided vote to appoint her.
Matthew Fortier, 34, received a unanimous vote at a special Selectboard meeting held Saturday to discuss the future of the town manager position after Stephanie Hirsch, a former Eau Claire, Wisconsin, city manager, removed herself from consideration. Fortier, who had been town administrator for three years, was the Selectboard’s second choice among the four finalists, surprising many in the community.
“[I’m] very relieved to have a final answer,” Fortier said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning. “It’s been a long and winding road.”
The Selectboard also voted to name Fortier as interim town manager, retroactively effective to when the charter went into effect on July 1, until contract negotiations for the permanent position can be completed. Fortier said he expects contract negotiations will unfold “pretty rapidly this month.”
Residents voted 155-12 at a Jan. 12 Special Town Meeting in favor of an article adopting 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 a bill into law that established the new form of government. 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.
Fortier said his top priority will be filling department head vacancies, namely at the Orange Fire Department and Wastewater Treatment Facility. James Young stepped down as fire chief on Feb. 13 and has served as interim chief since that time. Negotiations failed with Tim Matthews, a department captain, to be the next chief. Robert Lilley, owner of Red Tail Services, is being contracted to lead the Wastewater Treatment Facility until a new chief operator is chosen.
Before Fortier’s appointment at Saturday’s meeting, Selectboard Chair Alexandre Schwanz explained to those in attendance that he received Hirsch’s email, retracting her interest in the position, on Aug. 26. He said the email was later discussed in executive session.
According to Schwanz, Hirsch’s email stated she was uncomfortable with the 4-1 vote to appoint her. Then-Chair Julie Davis was the lone dissenting vote, as she favored Fortier. Hirsch, according to Schwanz, stated in her email that she would be willing to help the selected town manager with applying for grants, economic development or coaching, and could be interim town manager if the need arose.
Schwanz said he and Davis reached out to Hirsch and had a private phone call with her in an effort to address her concerns. Hirsch was then asked to email her final decision by the end of the day, and did so.
Fortier said he has been in touch with Hirsch and there are no hard feelings. In fact, he said the two plan to have lunch together soon. As town administrator, Fortier saw Orange through various hardships, including remediation of the devastating 2022 fire at the former cereal factory and fraudulent invoices that drained $338,000 from Orange’s coffers in 2023.
Hirsch, who had previously explained that she resigned from the Eau Claire position in April to relocate her family to Massachusetts before her son started high school, said last week that the appointment of a town manager is often a process with twists and turns and it simply didn’t work out for her. She also noted that she still plans to attend the North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival later this month.
“I think all I can really say is … municipal manager hiring processes are complex, and everyone I met from Orange seemed awesome and very invested in helping Orange succeed,” she said. “I know this shared commitment will translate into an exciting next chapter for the community, and I am interested to see how the future of Orange unfolds.”
Residents voice frustration
The ordeal surrounding the selection of a town manager proved frustrating for residents.
Tom Sexton, who chaired the bylaw review and town manager screening committees, stood up at Saturday’s meeting to stress that Orange is at a critical juncture and that hiring the first town manager is arguably the most important step in implementing the charter.
“We’re already in the budget cycle. The town manager’s responsible for the budget. So, there’s a lot of things that have to happen. And we need you at your best right now and we’re not getting that,” he told the Selectboard. “We’re getting failed negotiations, confusion, resignations, infighting. I think what the town needs is for the board to come together and, today, resolve these issues.”
Resident Ann Reed mentioned she wrote a letter of support for Fortier “some months ago.” However, she said, she began to feel that some town officials had dubbed him “the heir apparent.”
“It was almost to suggest that the necessary, required, competitive search and selection process is just a little theater that we need to get past before we do what we really want to do,” she said. “I don’t think it helped the gentleman and I don’t think it really helped the tone of the process that has transpired.
“I do ask that debate not be depicted as controversy,” she continued. “Debate is healthy, if it’s honest. It doesn’t mean that you’re not getting along appropriately.”
Former Town Moderator Christopher Woodcock, who chaired the Charter Advisory Committee and sat on the Town Manager Screening Committee, requested a higher level of functioning from the Selectboard.
“Divisiveness needs to be replaced by teamwork, cohesion and transparency,” he told Selectboard members. “Cast aside personal differences and agendas. Put the town first, size up the current situation, evaluate the options and collectively determine the best course of action. And understand that it likely will require a willingness to compromise for the common good of the town.”
Pamela Oddy, who identified herself as a proud member of the Charter Advisory Committee, chastised the Selectboard members for their lack of cooperation.
“Ten of us saw it all the way through for two years,” she said of her committee. “Not once did we have the dysfunction that we see here with the Selectboard.”
Board reorganization
Before the Aug. 26 meeting adjourned, the Selectboard’s chairmanship shifted from Davis to Schwanz following a seemingly abrupt motion that was made by Selectboard member David Ames and seconded by Kelli Gervais. Davis and Vice Chair Reid Jeffries Anderson Jr. voted against the motion.
However, Schwanz emailed the Greenfield Recorder on Friday night to issue a statement explaining his decision to resign from the Selectboard as soon as a permanent town manager is in place and the charter transition is complete. He then rescinded that email after Saturday’s meeting, but not before word had gotten out in the community.
The Selectboard voted unanimously at the special meeting to adopt Gervais’ motion appointing Schwanz as chair, Anderson as vice chair and Ames as clerk, though some saw this as redundant. Anderson told Schwanz it felt inappropriate to pick him to be Selectboard chair if he is “already out the door.”
But Schwanz said there was no concrete timeline for his departure and he has dedicated himself to finding the first town manager.
Gervais then explained her rationale for wanting a change of board leadership.
“First, I want to make clear that this is not personal. I respect the fact that we are all elected members of this board, and I believe that we all have the same responsibility to work together to serve the residents of our town and conduct the town’s business in a fair and transparent and effective manner,” she read from a statement. “I’ve become increasingly concerned about the way this board is functioning.”
She said she wants the public to be allowed to provide input after Selectboard members have gathered information, but before they vote on a motion. She said certain board members’ desires for this have not been respected. She is also concerned with how items are placed on meeting agendas.
“There have been instances where the board members have requested that a matter be brought before the board, and rather than simply scheduling it for future meetings, the matter has not been placed on the agenda at all,” Gervais said.
She also voiced frustration about Hirsch’s inability to get in touch with Davis for contract negotiations.
“Our new town manager made multiple attempts to reach [Davis] by telephone, text message and voicemail, without receiving a response,” she read from her statement. “The explanation was that calls from numbers that were not recognized were not answered. Regardless of the reason, when the board assigns an official responsibility to one of its members, particularly a responsibility involving our newly hired town manager, I believe that responsibility needs to be carried out promptly and professionally.”
Davis clarified that she does not disclose her cellphone number as she has been subjected to harassment in the past, and Hirsch received it without Davis’ consent or knowledge. She said her failure to connect with Hirsch was not the result of an ulterior motive, as has been suggested.
“That being said, I respect and believe that this board needs to function effectively. I think it needs to function properly and it needs to function in a cooperative manner,” she said. “Right now, there is no cooperation at this table. There are desires to point fingers and there are desires to place blame.”
Davis also said she supports the board reorganizing and she has no interest in resigning.
