From Templeton Watch
Selectmen tap veteran municipal manager as interim TA
Posted: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 8:53 am
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Updated: 8:56 am, Tue Jun 28, 2016.
© The Stoneham Independent
STONEHAM, MA - The Board of Selectmen last Thursday retained former Springfield Mayor Robert Markel, a seasoned municipal CEO with decades of leadership experience, to serve as temporary town administrator.
During a regularly scheduled meeting this week in Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen introduced the new hire to the public during an unplanned visit by the temporary town administrator, who officially begins his tenure in Stoneham this Thursday.
Markel beat out an unspecified number of other candidates vying for the temporary position. The selectmen, who voted to appoint him during a meeting in Town Hall’s second floor conference room last Thursday, did not disclose how long his employment pact will last.
Details about how much he is being compensated were also not divulged at the meeting this week, and calls placed by The Stoneham Independent to at least two selectmen for that information were not returned by presstime on Wednesday morning.
Most recently serving as the interim town manager in Templeton, Markel boasts an impressive resume, which includes serving as Springfield’s mayor, as well as a full-time town administrator in at least three small communities in Mass. and Maine.
Besides his most recent stint as town manager in Templeton, the career-long public servant also worked for a year in Northfield, another Central Mass. community, as an interim leader beginning in Nov. of 2013.
“He came in today, and I’d like the opportunity to introduce Mr. Markel,” said Board of Selectmen Chair Ann Marie O’Neill on Tuesday night. “He has a very extensive background [in leadership positions]. We’re very lucky to get him while we’re searching for a new town administrator.”
Markel is taking over the managerial reins from Town Administrator David Ragucci, whose contract is not being renewed when it expires on July 1.
The former Mayor of Everett, whose duties were being handled by Town Accountant and former Town Administrator Ron Florino, has already departed Stoneham, as he is taking vacation/leave time in advance of his contract lapsing.
According to Markel, who retired from his career as a full-time public servant in 2012, his heard about the vacancy in Stoneham just after submitting his notice to his employers in Templeton, where he as hired as interim town manager in Jan. of 2014.
“I gave my notice on June 11, and two days later, I applied for [this position]. And here I am,” he remarked. “I met today with all department heads, and I did a little walk around town.”
A long-time Springfield resident, the Notre Dame graduate, who has a doctorate in political science, served on the western mass. city’s School Committee and City Council, before being elected mayor between 1992 and 1996.
In 2001, he began a four-year stint as Norfolk’s town administrator, a position he departed in Feb. of 2005 upon being hired to manage government operations in the Town of Ipswich. He remained in that town administrator’s post until 2011, when he moved on to become town manager in Kittery, Maine.
He retired a year later.
According to the selectmen, they expect it will take at least until next September to find a permanent town administrator. A search committee, being assisted by a consulting team from UMass Boston, is meeting regularly to narrow down the applicant pool to eight to 10 candidates.
The search group, consisting of school, public safety, and Town Hall representatives, will then interview job seekers and name two to four finalists, who will be interviewed in public session by the full Board of Selectmen.
In a letter-to the-editor being published this week, Ragucci thanked the people of Stoneham for their faith in his leadership over the past nine years. Referring to the town’s department heads and employees as “Team Stoneham”, the town administrator expressed confidence in the community’s bright future.
“[When I first came to Stoneham the only thing I knew about it was the Unicorn Golf Course. In the past nine years, I have learned that Stoneham and its people are very special. I am leaving Stoneham in the hands of Team Stoneham that is the greatest gift I can give to a community that I grew to love and adopted as my home. Best of luck,” he wrote.
STONEHAM, MA - The Board of Selectmen last Thursday retained former Springfield Mayor Robert Markel, a seasoned municipal CEO with decades of leadership experience, to serve as temporary town administrator.
During a regularly scheduled meeting this week in Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen introduced the new hire to the public during an unplanned visit by the temporary town administrator, who officially begins his tenure in Stoneham this Thursday.
Markel beat out an unspecified number of other candidates vying for the temporary position. The selectmen, who voted to appoint him during a meeting in Town Hall’s second floor conference room last Thursday, did not disclose how long his employment pact will last.
Details about how much he is being compensated were also not divulged at the meeting this week, and calls placed by The Stoneham Independent to at least two selectmen for that information were not returned by presstime on Wednesday morning.
Most recently serving as the interim town manager in Templeton, Markel boasts an impressive resume, which includes serving as Springfield’s mayor, as well as a full-time town administrator in at least three small communities in Mass. and Maine.
Besides his most recent stint as town manager in Templeton, the career-long public servant also worked for a year in Northfield, another Central Mass. community, as an interim leader beginning in Nov. of 2013.
“He came in today, and I’d like the opportunity to introduce Mr. Markel,” said Board of Selectmen Chair Ann Marie O’Neill on Tuesday night. “He has a very extensive background [in leadership positions]. We’re very lucky to get him while we’re searching for a new town administrator.”
Markel is taking over the managerial reins from Town Administrator David Ragucci, whose contract is not being renewed when it expires on July 1.
The former Mayor of Everett, whose duties were being handled by Town Accountant and former Town Administrator Ron Florino, has already departed Stoneham, as he is taking vacation/leave time in advance of his contract lapsing.
According to Markel, who retired from his career as a full-time public servant in 2012, his heard about the vacancy in Stoneham just after submitting his notice to his employers in Templeton, where he as hired as interim town manager in Jan. of 2014.
“I gave my notice on June 11, and two days later, I applied for [this position]. And here I am,” he remarked. “I met today with all department heads, and I did a little walk around town.”
A long-time Springfield resident, the Notre Dame graduate, who has a doctorate in political science, served on the western mass. city’s School Committee and City Council, before being elected mayor between 1992 and 1996.
In 2001, he began a four-year stint as Norfolk’s town administrator, a position he departed in Feb. of 2005 upon being hired to manage government operations in the Town of Ipswich. He remained in that town administrator’s post until 2011, when he moved on to become town manager in Kittery, Maine.
He retired a year later.
According to the selectmen, they expect it will take at least until next September to find a permanent town administrator. A search committee, being assisted by a consulting team from UMass Boston, is meeting regularly to narrow down the applicant pool to eight to 10 candidates.
The search group, consisting of school, public safety, and Town Hall representatives, will then interview job seekers and name two to four finalists, who will be interviewed in public session by the full Board of Selectmen.
In a letter-to the-editor being published this week, Ragucci thanked the people of Stoneham for their faith in his leadership over the past nine years. Referring to the town’s department heads and employees as “Team Stoneham”, the town administrator expressed confidence in the community’s bright future.
“[When I first came to Stoneham the only thing I knew about it was the Unicorn Golf Course. In the past nine years, I have learned that Stoneham and its people are very special. I am leaving Stoneham in the hands of Team Stoneham that is the greatest gift I can give to a community that I grew to love and adopted as my home. Best of luck,” he wrote.
Good luck to the people of Stoneham !! I hope their town is in better shape than ours. If they do not hav a strong Advisory Board, they are in trouble. I think we, as a town are in worse shape than we were when Markel got here. It will come out in the wash. I am sick of our town being broke and constantly being jerked around be special interest groups ! Enough is enough !,
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