Springfield manager search narrows

The search for a new town manager is getting closer.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140911/NEWS02/709119918

Published September 11, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Springfield manager search narrows By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The search for a new town manager is getting closer. The Springfield Select Board will meet behind closed doors Thursday morning to conduct face-to-face interviews with the three finalists for the job. The board is expected to hold a second session Friday. “I don’t think there will be a decision that night,” said current Town Manager Robert Forguites, who is retiring this fall. Forguites said he had been aiding the board in the search process, but not participating in the interviews. “I’m sitting in, I’m there to help, but the board will make the decision,” said Forguites, who has worked for the town 20 years, first as comptroller for four years and then as town manager for 16 years. Prior to that, he worked for a Springfield bank. Kristi Morris, chairman of the Springfield Select Board, said recently the board had narrowed a group of nine applicants who had been interviewed over the telephone down to the three finalists, as well as one alternate. Morris declined to identify the candidates in any way, whether there were any from Vermont or even New England. “I’d rather not say where they are from,” he said. “We’re trying to protect their anonymity and not say whether they are local or out of state.” The board, which hired the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to help with the hiring process, had received 51 applications in all, Morris said. Each Select Board member received a packet of resumes from the League, he said, and after reviewing the candidates selected 10 candidates and five alternates. The nine semifinalists who were interviewed over the phone had all received at least three votes of interest from the five board members, he said. Forguites, 75, hopes to retire from the full-time responsibility of being town manager by the end of September, and work with the new manager for a couple of months, formulating the new town budget, before finalizing his retirement. Forguites is running unopposed for one of Springfield’s two House seats as a Democrat. Rep. Cynthia Martin, D-Springfield, decided not to seek another term. Morris said he didn’t know if the Select Board would meet its original deadline of having the new town manager on board by the end of September. “Hmmm. We’ll see,” said Morris. “On Sept. 30, I’m not going to walk out the door. I’ll stay until they have somebody in place, My plan is to be gone by the end of December,” said Forguites, who, if elected in November, will start work in Montpelier in early January.