Winchendon Has Their New Leader

Winchendon Has Their New Leader Hickey agrees to 3-year contract at $120,000 a year

+ click to enlarge TGN file photo Keith Hickey Damien Fisher News Staff Writer WINCHENDON  WINCHENDON — The deal to bring Keith Hickey to Toy Town as the next town manager is now done after Tuesday’s successful negotiation of a three-year contract. Selectmen met with Mr. Hickey, currently the town manager for Salem, New Hampshire, agreeing to a three-year deal that will pay him a starting salary of $120,000 a year. Mr. Hickey said he will start work in Winchendon on Dec. 17, and he will commute from his home in Greenfield, New Hampshire, a town located in the Granite State’s Monadnock region and about a half-hour drive from Winchendon. The full contract was not released Tuesday night, but will be available as a public document in the coming days. Mr. Hickey has been traveling to Winchendon for years as his sons play hockey and have played games at the Winchendon School. He became attracted to the town from his trips for hockey and golf, and has been interested in Winchendon for some time. His attraction to the town was one of the selling points for the board. They also like his financial management background and experience. Starting as an accountant, Mr. Hickey has served as a municipal finance dir­ector before becoming a municipal manager. Winchendon is re­covering from last year’s financial crisis that saw the town borrow close to $3 million to cover deficits. The town is expected to borrow another $550,000 to complete the deficit reduction. The deficits were created largely by accounting issues in the municipal employee health insurance trust fund, and in overspending in the School Department on grand funded trust accounts. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue stepped in to oversee the town’s recovery from the deficits. Town Manager James Kreidler resigned earlier this year after voters agreed to buy out his contract for a little less than $300,000, and Bernie Lynch was hired as the interim town manager. Mr. Lynch, the former city manager for Lowell, also served as the recruiting consultant for the town manager search. Mr. Hickey’s job in Salem, New Hampshire, has him overseeing a town of 29,000 residents with a $49 million annual operating budget, which excludes the education budget for the town. Mr. Hickey has been the manager in Salem since 2011, and has had managerial experience in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Bedford, New Hampshire.