GRANBY — The Select Board has offered Michael Durham the position as Granby’s new town administrator after its first choice, Shelley Poreda, turned the job down.

Durham, a Granby resident with children enrolled in the school district, will replace Christopher Martin, who retired as town administrator on Nov. 1 and interim town administrator on Jan. 23. Durham currently works as a budget analyst at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, managing the financials for 36 departments across six VA hospitals. His experience in the financial sector includes private equity and department management to consulting.

“I think he has the business administration background, the budgetary background and many years of experience,” Select Board Chair Crystal Dufresne said at the board’s Jan. 28 meeting. “One thing that stood out during his interview was that he said he was a people person, so I think he would fit well in the town.”

While Select Board member David LaBonte agreed with Dufresne, member Glenn Sexton questioned whether Durham had enough municipal experience to meet Granby’s needs.

“In the near future, we’ll be looking for an assistant town administer, and it’s important for myself right now to put someone in a position where they can hit the ground running, they know it, and it’s not a job they have to learn,” he said.

Ultimately, the board voted to offer Durham the job, but will also procure a mentor from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to fill in Durham’s municipal knowledge gaps.

Meanwhile, Poreda, of Sunderland, has been at Frontier Regional School District in Deerfield since 2019, and is in her sixth school year as the director of business administration.

Durham began his professional journey in the military as parachute reconnaissance officer in the U.S. Army, working his way up to platoon leader. He initially began training as a military intelligence officer, but decided to raise a family outside of the military. Durham holds a master’s in businesses administration with a concentration in finance from Sulfolk University, and a certificate in municipal leadership and finance from Sulfolk and the Massachusetts Municipal Association. He worked at a boutique investment bank in biomedical acquisition until a sudden suicide of a member of Durham’s platoon inspired a hard career pivot into public service supporting veterans.

While Durham enjoys his current job, he said during his interview with the board on Jan. 9 that he’d like to be able to see the impact of his work in his daily life, a unique perk of local government positions.

“I really like this community. The people here are unique, and deserve to be taken care of, and I can use my skills set for the betterment of my family, friends and neighbors. I can drive down the street and reach out and touch something and say I had a hand in doing that personally, start to finish,” he said.

During the interview, Durham admitted his current blindspot is the daily operations of a municipal government, such as payroll, procurement and communication postings. However, he lacked knowledge on federal finances when he started at the VA, but learned quickly. In the same position, he digitized 150 years of military records within his first 90 days in the position, increased veteran benefit enrollment and consolidated the budgets of his departments.

“I’m not going to step off the bus into Chris’s 23 years of experience. There will be speed bumps along the way, but I think the thing that matter is I don’t think you will find a more motivated candidate that someone who resides in the town,” he said.

Dufresne said she would speak to Eric Weiss, director of economic and municipal collaboration at PVPC, before the board’s next meeting on Feb. 10 to learn more about some budget-friendly options for a mentor and interim town administrator. This person would work with Assistant Town Administrator Cathy Leonard to identify town needs, and then spend two weeks with Durham training him on day-to-day municipal operations.

“It makes sense to bring someone in as an interim administrator, and if Michael decides to take the position, could also be helpful as a mentor as well,” Sexton said. “I’d also look at a timeframe too because there’s going to be a cost and right now it’s not in their budget.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.