Select Board Holds Town Manager Interviews with Three Finalists

by Inanna Arthen
On Monday, November 6, beginning at 4:00 p.m., the Select Board interviewed finalists for the Town Manager position. The interviews were open to the public and broadcast live on Winchendon TV and Xfinity/Comcast Local Access Channel 8. The interviews were held in the Town Hall 2nd floor auditorium and all finalists appeared in person for their interviews.

On Sunday, November 5, the Winchendon History and Cultural Center had hosted a "Meet and Greet" social gathering with all three candidates at the Murdock-Whitney House from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The house was packed with interested members of the public and representatives of town organizations, committees and boards, and everyone had a chance to chat casually with the three candidates. Many thanks go out to Town Manager's Administrative Assistant Debra Dennis for organizing the event (including a table full of delectable snacks) and the WHCC for hosting.

At the interviews on Monday, a set of identical questions was asked of each candidate. Four members of the Select Board alternated in asking questions (Board member Barbara Anderson was not present, although she attended the Meet and Greet). David Devertsen, CEO of Municipal Solutions LLC which handled the position posting and recruiting process, joined via Zoom. Each candidate was invited to begin with an introduction of themselves.

The first interviewee was Heather Munroe (LinkedIn Profile - Application Packet (PDF)).

Heather began by saying she and her husband had been living in Hubbardston, MA for about six years, were rooted into the community, and both of them are involved in town government there. She worked in Ashburnham previously, she said. "I like to describe myself as a rural small town administrator, manager where my focus has been over the length of my career in this position. I'm usually working with smaller communities, 6000 and under, this would be a great opportunity for me to get more involved as well as serve a larger community. take on new challenges. Everything I've seen about the town of Winchendon is very impressive. You guys have a great set of documents in place from your charter bylaws, Select Board policies, finance policies." She praised the "amazing community engagement, community collaboration" and said "it seems like a wonderful place to work."

Board chair Audrey LaBrie asked how Ms. Munroe saw "the jump from administrator to manager." Ms. Munroe said it really depended on how a community defines the role, and it was important for the Board and town administrator or manager to work as a solid leadership team. Asked how she prepared for the interview, Ms. Munroe said she'd read over documents online including the town charter and bylaws, the Select Board policies, and the 2023 budget. She noted that information on the website isn't all up to date, with the most recent Town Manager's contract dating to 2015, and some links go to a login portal.

Asked, "Please describe characteristics we would hear from your staff regarding your management style," Ms. Munroe responded, "I would like to think you'd hear the word 'collaborative', even if at the end of the day a decision is made that people don't necessarily agree with, the idea is trying to bring everyone who should be at the table to the table to have a say in it, and to understand what's going on and to be able to participate."

Asked "How you would fully utilize our staffs' talents and focus their efforts on the most important and urgent projects," Ms. Munroe responded that you have to get to know your team, and see if people with "a lot on their plate" could switch responsibilities to others. She spoke of new technology making this easier for teams, especially with things such as posting meeting agendas in a timely fashion. She mentioned a website called MyTownGovernment.org that facilitates this.

Asked, "What educational resources would you tap would you tap into to help staff who are looking to advance or improve their skills in particular," Ms. Munroe said "there's a number of different programs that are out there." She went through a number of agencies and organizations which offer trainings in everything from accounting and finance to human resources to ways of working effectively with constituents. Many of these are divisions of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA). "One of the biggest benefits is always trying to focus people to have mentors. This can be a very lonely profession if you don't have friends and colleagues and other communities to both lean on when they need help, but also to reach out to for resources, and just the ability to bounce ideas off and collaborate on things," she said.

Asked, "What would you bring to the position in regards to financial management skills," Ms. Munroe said the small towns she'd worked for didn't have finance directors, so that fell to the town administrator. She worked with day to day accounts and bills. When she started in Southampton, the budget was out of balance by $1 million. She spent two months working with department heads to reach a balanced budget.

Asked, "Tell us about your level of experience with the Munis accounting system," Ms. Munroe said that she'd worked with a number of different accounting and finance systems, and Munis can be too much for a small community, "like a cannon when you really need a pistol to get the job done."

Asked, "What are your strengths and weaknesses in the areas of financial project and risk management and what do you see as the town's area of greatest exposure as it relates to these issues," Ms. Munroe said her strength was her experience with many different communities; her weakness is that she isn't a trained treasurer or accountant. "But that's why we have a finance team," she said. As far as risks went, she spoke of employees handling cash and reimbursement procedures as examples, but said Winchendon seems to be "in decent shape" with financial risks.

Asked, "What do you believe is the role of the town manager in maintaining and raising the level of community engagement, and describe how you would enhance the relationship between the town manager and the citizens," Ms. Munroe responded, "it's our job to meet people where they're at. So part of that is trying to figure out where people get their information, how they communicate, how they want to be communicated with and understanding that's going to be a completely different range from your younger residents and citizens to your older ones." She spoke about having current and complete information on the website, especially about major projects, putting things on Facebook and making sure everything is updated. She also mentioned videos of public information sessions, and keeping track of the information that people consistently ask for.

Asked how she saw the "four points" of the Town Manager, Select Board, Finance Committee and School Committee working together, Ms. Munroe responded, "It's really imperative to have a collaborative relationship with all of them. Most of the time you don't put everyone in the group meeting all at the same time...I generally see the town manager's kind of the conduit of information" among them all. (In Winchendon, of course, the three boards do meet all together.)

Asked why she had left her positions in Ashburnham and in Paxton, Ms. Munroe said that she was bound by a nondisclosure clause. But she said that things had been going well in Ashburnham, with positive performance reviews, and then she was injured, and she and the town "parted ways." In the case of Paxton, Ms. Munroe stated that she thought Winchendon was a wonderful opportunity, with a very well-defined position and clear expectations. "I very much want to be a part of this," she said.

As a final comment, Ms. Munroe said, "I've always been very focused on getting more active boards, committees and commissions and getting members onto those boards, committees and commissions. In prior towns I looked at doing a board committee/commission handbook. Some other towns have done really impressive work of doing training videos and opportunities, get people involved. In one community they actually do a Citizens Academy similar to a Police Citizens Academy, where they actually go through like six to nine months where they have one meeting every month where a different department head will come in and talk about what their function is, what they do, how they operate in the town, what services they provide, and so forth. And then at the end, even though it's still a low percentage, they often still get one or two people who are interested to participate."

The next interviewee, following a short recess, was Sean Hendricks (LinkedIn Profile - Application Packet (PDF)).

Mr. Hendricks began by saying one thing he was most proud of on his C.V. was his military service, and how impressed he was that Winchendon has the Veterans Cemetery and how it "clearly shows you have a lot of deference to those folks who have served." He said that everyone has been "very, very welcoming." He also praised the town's charter, bylaws and other documents he had reviewed on the town website, although he mentioned that not all the information is current and the website needs some updating.

Asked, "Please describe characteristics we would hear from your staff regarding your management style," Mr. Hendricks said, "I tend to be a high energy guy...I think people would certainly call me collaborative. I rely on on my department heads to be subject matter experts. I don't feel the need to micromanage people." He spoke of small groups of people making decisions to benefit the much larger group. As a military person, he thinks "chain of command is very important. Accountability is very important." He added, "I think people that work with me would say they feel heard and we feel appreciated and respected."

Asked, "Could you explain how you would fully utilize our staffs' talents and focus their efforts on the most important and urgent projects," Mr. Hendricks responded that the first six months in a new town is spent getting to know people well and finding out their strengths and weaknesses. Another priority is developing new, less experienced staff like Winchendon's new town accountant and treasurer/collector. He mentioned MMA as a resource for information. "One of things that I like to do is have conversations with employees and say, 'What do you think you're good at? And what are you good at or what do you like to do?' That's something that we can maybe leverage into some skill that we can put to work here in town for the residents," he said, adding, "every job is really really important."

Asked, "Please tell us what you would bring to the position in regard to financial management skills," Mr. Hendricks said that he's always been a "talent manager," working with people who were finance directors or had strong financial skills. When preparing a budget, he works with every department head, the FinCom, all the "stakeholders" and believes in passing a solid, well-thought-out budget. He also believes strongly in annual audits and paying attention to them. He also mentioned the pitfalls of handling cash, such as the transfer station or school cafeterias--"Cash is always the area where we can get into trouble." He added that he doesn't need to be a financial expert, because he relies on the town accountant, the auditor and the department heads.

Asked, "Financial project and risk management, what do you see as your strengths or maybe weakness when it comes to that," Mr. Hendricks responded that in previous jobs he oversaw the construction of three schools, a senior center and a fire station. He believes in keeping a very close eye on the contractors, and the Owners Project Manager (OPM) making sure things get done. He sees himself as the person who sands the gears and asks tough questions. "When we're rebuilding roads, say, like Brian [Croteau] and I are gonna do the procurement together, but when it comes to actually constructing roads, it's gonna be Brian and the engineer, probably I'm not going to be much good. But I think in terms of overall project management, in terms of paying attention to the budget, in terms of keeping control of change orders, that's where I come in, that's ultimately so someone like Brian can really focus on his area of the project."

Mr. Hendricks went into more detail about projects and how to approach Town Meeting and get grants and other funding, and not relying on "contingency" budgeting to cover things that could be foreseen. He also replied at some length to a question about keeping up the momentum of reclaiming blighted buildings or areas of town which had begun under previous Town Manager Justin Sultzbach. "That's part of the six month plan walking in the door, is not just getting to know people's names and where they work or whatever it seems. What are you guys working on, what was prioritized in the past, what did Justin prioritize when he was here, and the board prioritize here, and say this is important and these are things that we think we can get done," he said. He stated that it might be more cost-effective to build a new building than try to renovate a historic old one, and that "safe, functional buildings" are more important than "aesthetics."

Asked what his experience was with the Munis accounting system, Mr. Hendricks responded, "Nothing. Very little." He went on for several minutes talking about other systems he had used, or his staff had used. "Munis is really expensive. Especially in small towns like this, a lot of times it's almost more than we need," he said, echoing Ms. Munroe's statement. He spoke of the importance of all the software services being used to be compatible and able to share data.

Asked, "What do you believe is the role of the town manager in maintaining and raising the level of community engagement, and describe how you would enhance the relationship between the town manager and the citizens," Mr. Hendricks responded, "People want to know where their money is going. They have the right to know, it's their money. The problem that we run into though is that people get their information in a lot of different ways." But, he said, it's on the public to be responsible for participating in the process and seeking out information where it's made available. "We can't afford to go door to door, we can't afford to mail a newsletter out every month. Any of that kind of thing. So we have to utilize social media," he said, saying "the death of print media was unfortunate" because a segment of the population still wants to read print.

Mr. Hendricks also spoke about putting clear information about pending and ongoing projects on the town website where they could be accessed. He added, "also I have an open door policy. When people want to come and talk to me, they can come in and if I'm available, I'm going to talk to them. I don't necessarily force people to make appointments. I like to be visible at town events. So the Festival of Lights, music festival, all these great events that you folks have going on here...I don't insulate myself in my office. I gotta get out in the community, walk around for lunch, go for a run, go work out at the Y, whatever it is."

Asked, "The Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Finance Committee, Town Manager, how do you see that relationship working between those four points," Mr. Hendricks responded, "Ideally, they work together," even if they can't easily all meet together. In past positions, he said, "we found ways to make sure that we're talking to each other." He would meet monthly with the School Superintendent. "So again, there's no substitute for collaboration. Because no matter what your title is, what group you're working for, we're all pulling in the same direction. Even though the budget has 100 spokes on the wheel. It's all the same bucket of money. It's all coming from the same people," he said.

Asked why he left his previous positions in Killingly, CT and Millbury, MA, Mr. Hendricks responded, "So Killingly, there was what ultimately was a human resources issue. One of my department heads was accused of harassment, didn't end up being harassment. It took a couple of years for all that to sort of get resolved." He stated that he was accused of mishandling the complaint, and he had argued that there was no complaint. The woman involved was on the School Committee and had a sister who was a state senator. Mr. Hendricks stated that he felt he needed to "be diplomatic" and not be "a bridge burner" and leave the position, although he felt he was blamed without cause.

Millbury was "a unique situation," he said. He was dealing with illness in his family, and felt that it was apparent that his contract was not going to be renewed. The town had a deputy Town Manager, and Mr. Hendricks said the town agreed to terminate his contract early. "I don't know all the reasons why they didn't want to retain my services," Mr. Hendricks said, but Town Managers often aren't told. "We can't get wrapped up in that because we can't be everything to everyone. We do our best doing the job, the best way that we believe that we're doing and sometimes it's a good fit, and sometimes it stops being a good fit."

In his closing comments, Mr. Hendricks said the process had been a "really refreshing experience" and "much more personalized," and that Winchendon has "a great crew here. They're very invested...some people that really know what they're doing and clearly care about this place."

The last interviewee, following a short recess, was Ryan McNutt (LinkedIn Profile - Application Packet (PDF)).

Mr. McNutt introduced himself as "an experienced town manager who is hopeful to become Winchendon's next Town Manager." He stated that he grew up in Fitchburg, attended classes at Mount Wachusett Community College, and had worked in Winchendon rehabbing houses.

Asked, "Please describe characteristics we would hear from your staff regarding your management style," Mr. McNutt responded, "My staff would probably say my management style is 'first among equals'." He likes to build teams and task forces of experts working toward a common goal and mission, and his job is to make sure everyone understands the mission and how they're contributing to it.

Asked, "Could you explain how you would fully utilize our staffs' talents and focus their efforts on the most important and urgent projects," Mr. McNutt mentioned Division of Local Services (DLS), and spoke about bringing in consultant groups, mentors, and assistance in helping staff get certification which they might not have gotten as they learned on the job.

Asked, "What would you bring to the position as far as regarding your financial management skills," Mr. Hendricks responded, "I would bring everything to the table because I've pretty much done it all in municipal finance. I started out as the aide to a mayor, chief of staff to a mayor, in a city with a 100 plus million dollar budget. And when we started we had a $5 million structural deficit. So that meant we were losing money exponentially every year. Not enough revenue coming in to support the operations of the city. We had to cut services, build new revenue streams. It was very painful." He worked with the mayor in creating the budget.

When he moved on to Lancaster, Mr. Hendricks said, he was immediately faced with a capital project that needed an additional $1.4 million to cover inflation-increased costs. In Claremont, NH and Palmer, MA, he was creating the budgets with the department heads and Finance Committees. He spoke of ways they had brought costs down by not filling positions that had retired and tightening up record keeping. His last budget for Palmer, for FY24, has over a million dollars in surplus. "In January of 2023, the building department in Palmer had over $10 million in construction value that led to over $900,000 in building permit fees alone. So lots of new local revenue sources," he said.

Asked about his experience with the Munis accounting system, Mr. McNutt said, "Every community that I've worked with has had Munis...I have reasonable user familiarity with it."

Asked, "What are your strengths and weaknesses in the areas of financial project and risk management? And what do you see as the town's areas of the greatest exposure as it relates to these issues," Mr. McNutt responded, "I have some not fully explainable sixth sense where I'm able to see the center of gravity of an issue or a project or a set of projects, and I can see their prioritization in my mind, just by going through them. So it's helped me order projects...coordination of projects is a strong suit of mine." He also has experience in plotting out expenses, and in finding creative solutions. He described a project where a new animal control facility was projected to cost $800,000, and he found an opportunity to buy a retiring veterinarian's clinic to convert for about $350,000.

As far as Winchendon's greatest exposre to risk, Mr. McNutt immediately named the water projects. "So many different things follow from access to public utilities, of water," he said. As a historian, "I've always been amazed where the Romans were able to build those aqueducts. So I've always been fascinated by water projects." He spoke of having driven around the town, saying "There's a lot of nice stuff to emphasize here to market, to showcase, to get the word out to other people, in the areas of what is here and more is coming. Bull Spit Brewery. I know people that get on airplanes to go to new breweries, you know, so it's a way to create a destination to come to town...We need to get more people exposed to what's here and traveling here and benefiting and partaking in the things that are here."

Asked about keeping the momentum going in addressing blighted properties, Mr. McNutt spoke at length about his experiences in Fitchburg. He described addressing housing issues by demolishing decrepit apartment buildings and replacing them with small single family homes. In one case, a single family home whose owner couldn't sell it because technically, the zoning didn't allow it to be where it was, was assisted in being physically moved to a new lot on a new foundation. In Palmer, he said, he had a burned out house that had stood rotting for years demolished and cleared. "In theory, we have these codes, right? Nuisance codes, ordinances, bylaws, we just need to enforce them. And we just need to be consistent about it."

Asked how he saw the town manager's role in community engagement and enhancing the relationship between the town manager and the citizens, Mr. McNutt responded that he was originally planning to be a teacher, and he likes to give presentations and talk to groups of people. In Palmer, he said, "there were lots of different sites in town that, you know, had development interest at one point in time, and or had just become vacant. There was a lot of older residents that had institutional memory about businesses in town that left, industry, we used to be all mill towns, and then it all went to Asia and other places. They also had rumors and innuendo and false memories about business opportunities that they thought were coming into town, and somebody somehow snatched it away from them. So I'm listening to all of this and I knew some of it was not true, and I knew some of it was, so I said, 'Look, you know, we need to have a meeting. We need to have a community meeting'." This helped give everyone the same information about what was going on with properties in town.

Asked how he would work with the Select Board, Finance Committee, School Board and Town Manager's office to "keep everyone on the same page," Mr. McNutt responded, "I have to be able to be a liaison and a mediator and a source for information. I don't try to drive any agendas." He said that the town manager can't be everything to everyone, and he values two-way communication and transparency.

Asked why he left his position in Claremont NH and was leaving his position in Palmer, Mr. McNutt said that in Claremont, there was tension between himself and a "ceremonial mayor" who "didn't see his job as ceremonial." A situation with a particular property in town led to complaints that Mr. McNutt "didn't communicate effectively." Mr. McNutt said, "I guess in retrospect, I should have resigned instead of fighting for my position and that fight led to my termination." As for Palmer, Mr. McNutt stated that he'd been there for four and half years and feels he's done a lot for the community, completed some important projects, put them in a much stonger position, and "I thought that it was the right time to start to look for other opportunities for myself. And then I saw this opened up and I applied for it."

Mr. McNutt concluded by emphasizing that he would really like to be Winchendon's next town manager, he feels he is the most experienced of the candidates and has the most to offer, and he is a driven professional, passionate about his job and his staff. He said he did have a question about the town manager's relationship with the Select Board, and that he needed to feel that if there were any issues, he would hear about them right away. "My benchmark for success is the communications with the Select Board," he said.

Board member Danielle LaPointe said, "What you heard I feel for the most part is what the last town manager was. And I think it was a very effective relationship. I think it's reality. I think it's true. It's not just lip service."

Following all three interviews, there were a few comments from members of the audience. The Board acknowledged all the hard work done by the Town Manager Search Committee and everyone concerned with the process. Before going into Executive Session for deliberations, Board Chair Audrey LaBrie asked Mr. Devertsen, "If we come out the other side and we cannot come to a consensus or for whatever reason, we decide that we do not want to make an offer to any of these three candidates, what happens?"

Mr. Devertsen said they could go back and look again at other candidates that were recommended. If that was not fruitful, they could re-post the position and search for additional applicants.

According to the posted agenda, the Select Board will interview current Interim Town Manager Bill McKinney for the permanent position at their meeting on Monday, November 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall 2nd floor auditorium, 109 Front St.

Local Makers "Take Over" Bowling Refreshment Stand at Winchendon Community Hub!

Marielle ladling out the melted cheese.
Photo by Inanna Arthen

Not just a snack, it's dinner! Nachos Supreme from the Winchendon Makers Hub
Photo by Inanna Arthen

by Inanna Arthen
Talented local cooking experts and makers will be "taking over" refreshments at Friday night bowling on the first Friday of the month, offering a delectable special dish to hungry bowlers and anyone else who comes by (it's not necessary to bowl, come have a snack!).

For November's First Friday treat, Marielle Vega prepared deluxe nachos, with mild cheddar cheese from Smith's Country Cheese, taco-seasoned ground beef, and all the trimmings--sweet onions, black olives, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, and of course a generous dollop of sour cream. Beverages and candy were also available.

The bowling lanes were busy, but many people came just to enjoy the food. The next "takeover" will be Friday, December 1--the menu is still being decided, but it will definitely be something delicious and fun! 100 percent of the proceeds go to support local youth programs.

Bowling is open from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. each Friday at the Winchendon Community Hub, 5 Summer Drive. Cost is $25 per hour for a lane with up to 5 people playing. Bowling shoes are included in the fee (bringing your own is fine). The Sunshine Café will sell pizza slices, drinks and snacks. Register for a lane at https://calendly.com/wcac_appointment/bowling or in person at the CAC.

Photo by Inanna Arthen

Photo by Inanna Arthen

Working up a good appetite for nachos, community members of all ages kept those pins falling.

Memorial School Art Show and Book Fair Brings Out the Town

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by Inanna Arthen
The Memorial Elementary School Art Show and Book Fair held on Wednesday, November 8 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. was packed with families and interested community members, with parking at a premium (Memorial Drive was lined with vehicles all the way to the Middle School!) and visitors elbow to elbow on two floors of the school. The inviting and colorful halls of the school were shining and the mood of the crowd was bustling and excited.

Downstairs, the cafeteria was set up with long tables filled with art, all of it created by students in grades kindergarten through 2nd grade. Students, under the guidance of art teacher Linsey Laserte, had learned about color, shape, three-dimensional sculpture, geometric designs, multimedia (with paint, fiber and objects like small stones) and fiber crafting, all incorporated together in projects. Each class worked on the same basic project but each student gave their project their own unique touch.

A long table was set up as a coloring station for young people to work on an art piece in the moment (it might have been okay for older people, too, but the Courier respectfully abstained). There were boxes for visitors to fill in compliments to the artists on cards, by classroom, and put them in the box for the students to see later.

Upstairs, in the school library, the Scholastic Book Fair had a continuous line of book buyers running from the check-out table almost to the library entrance. Colorful books were arranged on tables and in display kiosks all around the central library space, by categories. There were fiction chapter books (for younger readers), picture books, history, science, seasonal books, and even--for parents--some cookbooks. Harry Potter was a popular theme. There were science books that included assortments of minerals so budding young geologists could begin a collection.

The Book Fair included a feature whereby parents could buy a book for a classroom as a donation.

It was delightful to see so much talent in Winchendon's youngest students, and so much interest from Winchendon children and their families in books and art!

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Photos by Inanna Arthen

Social Security: Preparing for Retirement at the Beals Memorial Library

Join wealth manager, Joshua Houle, for a Social Security seminar at the Winchendon library on November 16.
Photo courtesy of Beals Memorial Library

Are you getting ready to retire? Join the Winchendon library for a special seminar to help you plan ahead and maximize what you get back at this month's Social Security Seminar, presented by wealth manager, Joshua Houle.

On Wednesday, November 16, at 6:00 p.m., take part in a free seminar on ways to help you maximize your Social Security benefits and optimize your retirement strategy. Given the thousands of complex rules and hundreds of claiming options, creating a plan of action for Social Security can be an overwhelming prospect. One Social Security misstep could leave you missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. Fortunately, you don't have to do it alone! Joshua Houle, a wealth manager at Monadnock Capital Group in Keene, NH, will be coming to the Beals Memorial Library to help members of our community navigate the complexities of Social Security and preparing for retirement.

This seminar is free and open to the public!

The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit their website at bealslibrary.org.

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