Dartmouth's town administrator has resigned for a new position. Here's what's planned next

DARTMOUTH — After six years, Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes will be moving on, and the Select Board will be searching for a permanent replacement.

But first there is an interim plan in the works.

Chris Vitale, the assistant town administrator, and Gary Carreiro, the town treasurer and director of budget and finance, have expressed interest in serving as interim co-town administrators.

First, they each need to sign a memorandum of understanding. The Select Board is expected to put the proposal on the agenda for its next meeting on June 3 to decide the next steps.

There is precedent for this arrangement in Dartmouth. When former Town Administrator David Cressman retired, the town also had two interim co-town administrators.

MacInnes shares his plans

MacInnes sent an email to staff April 16 announcing his plans, according to Communications Coordinator Magnolia McComish.

He will become chief executive officer and president of the Columbia Association, a nonprofit community service corporation in Columbia, Maryland. It’s a “planned community” created by developer John Rouse with a population of approximately 105,000 people.

Vitale and Carreiro would take on their new roles effective Monday, June 10, when MacInnes goes on vacation. His resignation will take effect Monday, July 15.

Starting the search

The town has received proposals from two search firms to search for the next town administrator, but the Select Board needs to solicit three quotes, according to McComish.

She said the Select Board wants a written proposal from Cressman to assist in the search following his offer to help with the search, and it is possible that board members will look into additional companies.

The Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston submitted a proposal requesting $14,000 to conduct the search, and Community Paradigm Associates, LLC in Plymouth has requested $13,000.

Monday night, Select Board member Stan Mickelson said he’s prepared to meet with Vitale and Carreiro to prepare them for their interim roles and supports moving forward quickly to choose one of the search firms and conduct the search for the permanent administrator.

“We are going to work out the co-leadership of our town administrator job, and their priorities will be set,” he said. “We’ll have meetings, particularly on who will do what and where and when, and that’s what we’ll be going over shortly.”

He said he expects that there will be more than three or four candidates who will apply, despite what he has heard others say.

“I think this town of Dartmouth would be a desirable position for quite a few people that actually have been a town administrator somewhere else,” he said. “I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised we’ll have more people than three, and hopefully four or five will be qualified so we can finally pick one.”

The recommended qualifications for the job listed include a bachelor’s degree in public administration or related field, a master’s degree in a related field and at least five years of experience as a municipal or private sector administrator or three years holding a similar position to town administrator.

Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth seeks proposals for search firm for town administrator