Uxbridge receives 35 applications for town manager post, seeks to narrow field

UXBRIDGE — A seven-member ad hoc town manager screening committee is working with an executive search firm to narrow the pool of candidates for town manager to three to five for final interviews with the selectmen.

The town received 35 applications from candidates. The deadline for applications was Aug. 21. The applicant pool will now be whittled to six to eight candidates for initial interviews with the screening committee, which will then forward the names of three to five finalists to the selectmen, who will conduct their own interviews before hiring a new manager.

Interim town manager Peter Hechenbleikner told the selectmen last week that the applicant pool comprises several highly-qualified candidates, saying the screening committee will be working as early as this week to narrow the list before candidates accept jobs elsewhere.

“While we won’t know until we hire someone, I’m pleased with the process so far,” said Selectwoman Susan Franz. “I think we got the salary in the right place and doing the recruiting has worked very well.”

The ad hoc town manager screening committee is working with Community Paradigm Associates, which has also worked with Stoughton, Avon, Lakeville and Rockland to find town administrators.

Candidates for the job, which comes with an annual salary of up to $155,000, must have have at least a Bachelor’s degree in public administration or a related field as well as progressive and relevant management experience, with demonstrated skills and abilities in municipal finance and budgeting, financial forecasting, human resources, and economic and community development.

Candidates should have a proven record of municipal leadership and be able to build cooperative relationships with appointed and elected officials, residents, and town employees.

Hechenbleikner, a retired chief administrative officer who was the Town of Reading’s town manager for more than 27 years, is overseeing operations at Town Hall until a permanent town manager is hired. Hechenbleikner took over for Police Chief Marc Montminy, who was named acting town manager after the departure of former Town Manager Angeline Ellison on May 3.

Ellison left the town manager’s position in May after negotiating an early release from her contract. Ellison, who had two-years left on her three-year contract, will receive payment in the form of her salary and benefits through June 16, 2020, according to the mutual agreement she negotiated with the selectmen. Ellison’s annual salary was $115,000.

Ellison’s professional relationship with the selectmen had soured over the past years. Under her leadership, the town lost several key department heads, including Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie and Fire Chief William Kessler, as well as key town finance department employees, which caused the Department of Revenue to intervene earlier this year. In May of last year, Ellison’s performance was described by the selectmen as unsatisfactory during in her job performance evaluation.

Ellison was town administrator for the town of Blandford, Mass. before she was named Uxbridge’s town manager in December 2017. At the time, Ellison, of Sturbridge, edged out two other candidates, William DiLibero, city manager in the Texas town of Beeville, and Michael Johns, chairman of the Wrentham Economic Development Commission and assistant to the town manager for economic development in Foxboro.

Ellison replaced former Uxbridge Town Manager David Genereux, who was offered the job of town administrator in Leicester, Mass.

Ellison is a former Sturbridge selectwoman and member of the Tantasqua Regional School Committee.