Finalists to be announced Dec. 7

By Matthew Bernat
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE– If all goes according to plan, members of the Town Administrator Search Committee will introduce Sturbridge’s next administrator to selectmen Dec. 7.
Committee Chairman James Ehrhard announced last week that from 65 applicants 10 have been selected to be interviewed for a process that will whittle away the field to three finalists. Those three will then be presented to the board of selectmen next month.
From there, selectmen will make the final decision on who will take the town’s top spot.
Ehrhard said the second round of the process finished a day earlier than expected. The committee met in executive sessions last week to debate the merits of the candidates and determine which ones to call back.
“We have 10 good candidates and are excited to begin the interview process,” Ehrhard said, adding those selected were “free from any conflict of interest issues.”
He noted the committee performed a nationwide search, but a majority of those who responded were from the northeast region. Outgoing interim Town Administrator Michael Racicot is scheduled to leave Jan. 13.
This will be the second time the search committee has scheduled to release the names of three finalists for the position.
In September, four out of five previous members of the committee resigned suddenly at a board of selectmen meeting after a particularly contentious discussion between selectmen and committee members.
At that meeting, committee members asked to re-post the advertisement with slightly different qualifications after saying they did not have three “viable” candidates.
During the resignation members said they felt their integrity had been questioned by the board.
The next town administrator will be filling the position left by James Malloy, who held the job for 14 years before leaving to become town manager in Westboro, MA.