AMHERST – Amherst’s vacant town manager position is generating significant interest from municipal management professionals, with 70 applicants for the job by Thursday’s deadline.
Even though about one-third of these applicants are not qualified, and another 15 or so are only minimally qualified, executive recruiter Bernard Lynch of the Plymouth firm Community Paradigm Associates said Monday that he is pleased with the number and is confident that Amherst will have its next town manager from this pool.
“There are enough candidates that meet the criteria that we’ll find a great candidate,” Lynch said. “I’m very impressed with the people who have applied.”
Lynch, who led a similar search for Chelsea last year, said only about 40 applicants came in for that city manager position.
The Amherst town manager job, which would pay at least $155,000 annually, requires at least a decade of experience as a town manager or assistant manager, along with a master’s degree in a field related to municipal management.
Since the unexpected death of Town Manager John Musante in September, two interim town managers have been in place: David Ziomek through January and now Peter Hechenbleikner, who started Feb. 1. Both have said they will not be candidates for the permanent position.
Lynch said the applicants show a geographic range. While most are from New England, others are from Kentucky, Texas, California and Alaska. A good number of women have applied, he said, and he is not yet certain about the racial and ethnic breakdown of the candidates.
Human Resources Director Deborah Radway said she and Lynch conducted targeted outreach to suborganizations of the National League of Cities in an effort to reach potential black and Hispanic applicants.
“We did everything we could to attract a diverse applicant pool,” Radway said.
Lynch’s next responsibility is to find the top 10 candidates for a screening committee. He said there are outstanding candidates based on their experience working in similar communities.
This screening committee is expected to interview the semifinalists in private during a two-week period beginning Monday.
Once the screening committee chooses finalists, Lynch will complete background checks and expects to present the names publicly at the April 11 meeting of the Select Board, which would then conduct interviews during the week of April 25.
In a memo to the Select Board, Lynch reported that 24 individuals “do not in any way meet the requirements of the position.”
Part of the reason for the large number of unqualified applicants might be that the advertisement, published on the town website, indicated the job is in the smaller community of Amherst, Ohio.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
