Selectmen sign contract with new town administrator

Selectmen sign contract with new town administrator

Start date for Jeff Ritter is Jan. 21
BY CHRISTINE SMITH
STERLING CORRESPONDENT

STERLING — Selectmen have approved a three-year contract for new Town Administrator Jeff Ritter with an annual salary of $85,757.

The vote followed an executive session on Dec. 18 during which contract details were finalized.

Selectman chairman Ron Furmaniuk and clerk Robert Cutler voted in favor of the new contract. Vice chairman Brian Patacchiola was absent.

Selectmen have been negotiating with Ritter since his appointment on Dec. 4.


Ritter, who is required to give 30-day notification of his resignation to the Town of Templeton from his position as administrator there, will officially begin in Sterling on Jan. 21. The contract extends until 2017, with a performance review after the first six months.

Annual benefits include 15 days each for paid vacation and sick leave and three personal days.

“My immediate plan will be to get to know the town, its structure and finances, meet and greet the department heads, and become grounded in the current set of town issues,’’ Ritter said recently response to questions from The Landmark. He said his own personal agenda is to provide “the best professional leadership that I am capable of” and that the goals and objectives of the town will become clear as soon as he takes up his post.

Ritter remarked that while the future direction of the town will be decided by the residents through town meetings and ballot votes, as well as their “active participation in town governance,” he will bring “the necessary skills to facilitate those activities.”

“Sterling is a town with a proud heritage, a strong tradition of citizen involvement, and a lot of lively, intelligent debate. Those are all strong points,” he said. “I said in my interview that I bring a strong work ethic, a good level of intelligence, and a deep sense of compassion to my administrative work. I mean that.”

Current Town Administrator Terri Ackerman gave her public farewell speech during the Dec. 18 meeting. This was the last selectmen’s meeting she would be attending, since she is officially leaving her post at the end of December and the board will not meet again until Jan. 8.

Ackerman, who has served as Town Administrator for the past 6 ½ years, said the “key in moving forward” will involve determining the town’s potential in regard to its resources, which include “open space, farms, talented passionate citizens, and financial stability.”

Ritter, who has plans to meet with Ackerman, expressed his sentiments to selectmen. “It’s a wonderful opportunity, and I am quite excited to get the bit in my teeth and get going.”