Selectmen Welcome Burlington's Next Town Administrator

Members of the board and Burlington's new Town Administrator John Petrin signed the employment contract during Monday's meeting.

The Burlington Board of Selectmen announced this week that an agreement had been made between the town and Ashland Town Manager John Petrin over the contract that makes Petrin Burlington's new town administrator. Petrin was offered the job last Monday after the board interviewed the three finalist selected by the Town Administrator Search Committee. Later in the week Board Chair Walter Zenkin and Burlington Human Resources Director Joanne Faust met with Petrin and worked out a contract and Zenkin announced the completed negotiations during Monday's meeting.  "I am pleased to announce the board has agreed on Mr. Petrin’s contract and he has reviewed and accepted it," Zenkin informed the public. The chair then called for a vote to approve, …

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Town Administrator Search Committee to Interview Seven Candidates

The committee leaders gave the Board of Selectmen an update on the search at Monday night's meeting.

Brad Bond, chair of the Town Administrator Search Committee and Burlington Human Resources Director Joanne Faust presented an update of the search at Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting. Bond said the Edwards J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management, a public entity based at UMass Boston hired by the town to conduct the new town administrator search received a total of 22 applicants in the nation-wide search. Originally the board, in meetings with the Collins Center, had expected that between 40 to 50 applicants to apply. Bond said the high standards laid out by the board may have scared off less-qualified applicants. "You set the bar pretty high with a fairly stringent set of requirements," Bond told the board members. Bond said…

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Town Administrator Search Committee Discusses Ideal Candidate

The committee interviewed current Town Administrator Robert Mercier and Selectmen Chair Walter Zenkin on desired candidate attributes.

The newly-formed Town Administrator Search Committee, tasked with helping to vet candidates to replace retiring Town Administrator Robert Mercier, met yesterday to discuss requirements for candidates and set a schedule to use moving forward. Mercier is set to retire on June 1, following the passing of the FY'13 budget. The committee was formed by the Board of Selectmen last month to work with the Edwards J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management, a public entity based at UMass Boston hired by the town to conduct the new town administrator search. Five members were appointed from various town positions and two additional members, along with one alternate member, were chosen among interested residents. The members of the committee are: …

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Richard Hosford

3:20 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Great question Cathy! Anyone else have a question?   more ›

Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today, Feb. 6

Another warm day, a meeting to search for a new town administrator and a meeting for Mary Cummings Park.

Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. Check back later for more, and let us know what you think of the feature in the comments section. Today is Monday, Feb. 6. Here are 5 things you need to know:

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Selectmen Appoint Residents to Town Administrator Search Committee

Two full members and one alternate were chosen from the 11 residents who applied to participate.

The Burlington Board of Selectmen appointed three residents to the Town Administrator Search Committee during the meeting on Monday, Jan 9. Two of the members will be full members of the search committee while the third will be an alternative who will attend meeting and participate but will only vote in the event that another member steps down. The three residents join five town representatives previously appointed to the committee. The search committee will work with the Edwards J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management, a public entity based at UMass Boston recently hired by the town to conduct the new town administrator search. The two full resident members are Mark Delaney and Wendy Zarella. Resident Melissa Robinson was appointed …

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Selectmen Discuss Town Administrator Replacement Process

The Burlington Board of Selectmen held a special meeting last night to discuss how to go about replace Town Administrator Robert Mercer.

The Burlington Board of Selectmen met last night to discuss the procedure of replacing Town Administrator Robert Mercier, who last month announced his retirment. Mercier said his retirement will go into effect at the end of May, 2012. During the meeting the board discussed how to handle the search and vetting process, the requirements members would like to set for candidates and set a general timeline of the process. The first thing up for discussion was how to conduct the search process and who would handle the initial vetting and interviews of candidates. The four proposed methods, worked out in advance with Burlington's Human Resource Director Joanne Faust, were to 1) a local screening committee of 7-9 members, 2) using an outside …

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