By Jeffrey Epstein
The search for Bedford’s next Town Manager is making progress, as the Town Manager Search Selection Committee explained at a public comment session Monday, June 4.
The committee has received “a good number of applicants,” Chair Betsey Anderson said, explaining that for applicant privacy and other reasons, she could not disclose names or numbers at this time. She did reveal that most of the candidates, but not all, are from Massachusetts.
The consultant helping with the process, Municipal Resources, Inc., will be reducing the list of candidates down to about eight or nine. The search committee is tentatively scheduled to interview those candidates, June 20-22. Once those interviews are completed, said Anderson, the committee will choose three or four candidates to recommend to the Selectmen for its own interviews.
Monday’s meeting gave the public an opportunity to tell the committee their interests and concerns in the search for a new Town Manager, prior to the interviews.
Some 16 people attended the session, 11 giving comments.
Several of the commenters were members of town boards and committees, who expressed in various ways a desire that the new town manager would be sensitive to their concerns, and the concerns of the town staff.
For example, Jaci Edwards, chair of Bedford’s Arbor Resources Committee, expressed a hope that the new Town Manager would learn “how talented the citizenry is” and be open to citizen input in town affairs. He or she should have “a little more flexibility” with boards and committees “for creative problem solving,” she said.
Three attendees stressed the importance of efforts to protect the environment such as NetZero, a plan to substantially reduce Bedford’s greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050, as approved at the 2017 Special Town Meeting.
Another concern was about communication within town departments.
Meredith McCulloch from The Bedford Citizen expressed appreciation for the richness of information on the town website but asked that smaller committees also make their documents available on a consistent basis. Another request supported videotaping major Town boards including the Finance Committee.
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