Templeton has no interim town administrator candidates to interview

Templeton has no interim town administrator candidates to interview
After being unable to find Town Hall, the only applicant withdraws

Christine Smith News Correspondent TEMPLETON  Only one candidate had expressed interest in taking over the job as interim town administrator due to Robert Markel’s departure, but the Board of Select­men did not even get a chance to hold the interview After first being delayed by traffic from attending the selectmen’s meeting on time and then being unable to locate Town Hall after a further hour of searching, the candidate withdrew in a phone call to Markel during the board’s meeting on Monday. Selectmen immediately voted that they would assume the duties until an interim or full-time administrator could be hired. Selectman Chairman John Caplis and other members commented that “em­ployees need direction and support” and that “somebody’s got to be in charge of this ship.” Markel, whose resignation from the position was effective at midnight on Monday, promised selectmen that he would make further attempts to locate candidates willing to take on the interim post and forward these names to the board. Markel said there was a difficulty in getting commitments from those he had already contacted because typically around June 30 resignations increase and candidates to fill interim posts are in larger demand. “It is the time when quite a few communities are changing administrators or managers,” he commented. “The market is tight.” Selectmen also plan to interview two consulting firms at its meeting on July 25 to determine which to hire in the town’s search for a new full-time administrator. These include Tom Groux, a private consultant based in Chatham on Cape Cod who conducts executive searches for the public sector, and recruitment experts from the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston. According to Markel, the Collins Center provides a full service that could cost the town somewhere between $15,000 and $16,000 for the search. He said they also offer a partial service for a fee of about $8,500, but would require town officials to supplement the research and interview process. Markel, who has been interim town administrator since 2014, said he leaves much still to be done and that the town needs someone in that post on the job more than two or three days a week. He pointed out the positive advances made by the town during his tenure, including town approval of the new Templeton Center School which he said will attract young couples with children to the community and increase property values. He also noted that the economy in Templeton “is growing again,” a trend he suggested continues from last fiscal year, and that employee salaries have been aligned with others in the region. He said the town has the ability to “prosper” through development and expansion and that “there is no reason the town should be pessimistic or cynical about its future.” Both Chairman Caplis and fellow Selectman John Columbus thanked Markel for his service. Columbus praised Markel for bringing “grace” and “professionalism” to the job, as well as instituting a higher level of professionalism to the town’s entire governmental structure that he hopes will continue after Markel’s departure.