HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-12-08-RTMS-min
TOWN MANAGER SEARCH COMMITTEE - MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 8, 2004 AS AMENDED
The meeting of the Town Manager Search Committee was called to order at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, December 8,
2004 at the Town Office Building, Lexington, MA by committee chair Janet Perry.
Attendees
: Search Committee members Janet Perry, Scott Wilson, Barrie Peltz, Don Marquis, Richard Pagett,
Martha Wood, Bill Kennedy, Bebe Fallick, Bill Middlemiss, Robert Cataldo, Olga Guttag, Jack Donahue, Cathy
Abbott, Henry Liu, Susan Bottan. Finance committees’ liaisons Deborah Brown (Appropriation) and Shirley Stolz
(Capital Expenditures). Tom Groux, Consultant.
minutes
On a motion (Mr. Wilson) and second, theof the meeting of December 1, 2004 were APPROVED.
confidentiality
Ms. Perry reviewed the response of Town Clerk Donna Hooper to our questions about candidate
and the Open Meeting Law
, quoted as follows: “The threshold for determining public nature of meeting (and
documents as viewed by Public Records Division) is if a separate screening committee has been established (yes)
then the preliminary screening meetings may/may not be conducted in executive session (up to committee).
Executive sessions may be held until the committee votes recommendations to the Board. Once the
recommendations are made they become public, along with the documents pertaining to such.” To date all
candidates have requested confidentiality.
profile
The final draft of the community was presented for review. Committee members expressed gratitude for the
thoughtful and comprehensive work done by Ms. Guttag and Ms. Peltz. All corrections must be sent to Ms. Guttag
by 10 AM tomorrow, December 9. Ms. Bottan suggested that the High School print shop prepare the trifold flyer,
and Ms. Guttag will work with them.
Ms. Perry said that she would respond to the Town Meeting Members’ list serve to correct several mistakes of fact
in recent correspondence about the Town Manager search. Ms. Stolz and Ms. Guttag volunteered to speak about the
search process and timeline and to offer correct information at tonight’s TMMA meeting as well.
process for reviewing resumes
Committee members discussed the . Mr. Groux has received 13 applications to date.
A secure sight for storage of resumes is required, and the committee decided to seek permission to locate the
lockbox at the Police Station, which is the only public building with 24 hour access.
Mr. Groux will screen resumes and sort them as qualified/not qualified. To preserve the integrity of the process, the
committee asked for a subcommittee of readers to ratify Mr. Groux’s suggestions about which candidates are
qualified/not qualified. Mr. Liu and Ms. Abbott volunteered to read all the resumes received and review Mr. Groux’s
recommendations.
Speaking for the Selectmen, Mr. Kennedy proposed that any Lexington employee who applies be interviewed as a
courtesy. Mr. Pagett reiterated that any member of the Board may request that the committee consider and interview
any candidate. Search committee members and all five Selectmen will have access to all preliminary information.
To protect confidentiality, anyone who reviews applications will be expected to keep all personal notes on site
(Police Station). Ms. Perry’s motion that Search Committee members keep all information related to candidates
strictly confidential was adopted unanimously. Mr. Groux will pursue all reference checking in confidence until
finalists’ names have been sent to the Board of Selectmen and become public information.
In response to a question about courtesy, Mr. Groux stated that he will respond to every inquiry and acknowledge
receipt of each application. At each stage of the process he will notify applicants who are not moved to the next
level.
Mr. Groux handed out a preliminary candidate grid. A standardized grid, similar to the template used in the recent
search for the Finance Director, was requested as more helpful and easier to read.
next meeting
The of the Search Committee will be Wednesday, December 15, from 5:30-7 PM.
On a motion (Mr. Kennedy) and second, the meeting was adjourned at 7 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Abbott, Recorder for the Committee