Search For New Manager Begins

Search For New Manager Begins
Winchendon picks board that will guide the process
Damien Fisher
News Staff Writer

WINCHENDON  Select­men picked seven members of the public to serve on the new Town Manager Search Com­mittee by a ballot vote.

Winchendon is hoping to hire a new town manager in the fall, before acting Town Manager Bernie Lynch’s second term runs out in late November. Mr. Lynch can serve a maximum of six months under the terms of the town’s charter.

There was no public discussion of the candidates for the committee on Monday night, and the voting was not done in a way that the public could observe. Instead, selectmen wrote names of people they were in favor of on paper ballots and those ballots were counted during the break. No executive session meeting was called, and no executive session was posted on the meeting’s agenda.

The committee will comprise of Dave Romanowksi, M.J. Galat, Jason Moury, Jessica Murdock, Felicia Nurmsen, Ruth DeAmicis and Burton Gould.

Ms. DeAmicis is the editor of the weekly Winchendon Courier. Ms. Nurmsen is one of the leaders of the political action group Stand Up For Toy Town that worked to remove the previous town manager from office. Mr. Gould is a former selectman who was recalled from office in 2010 amid allegations he violated the town charter.

The new committee will start work on hiring the next town manager with the guidance of Mr. Lynch, who was hired to act as a consultant.

Mr. Lynch’s proposal for consulting work was accepted by the board Monday night. Board members stated that Mr. Lynch has done an excellent job as the acting town manager, and they were eager to have him assist on hiring the next manager.

Mr. Lynch’s contract is also for far less money than that of the competing bidders for the consulting work. Mr. Lynch will be paid $7,000 for the contract, while the other bids were for $17,000 and $15,000.

Mr. Lynch is filling in as town manager after the town voted to give a $300,000 severance package to former longtime Town Manager James Kreidler over fears that he would sue the town should he be fired without cause. Four current members of the select board ran for office on the platform that Mr. Kreidler should be fired for the town’s $3.4 million deficit, despite the Massachusetts Department of revenue stating that Mr. Kreidler was not to blame.