WHITE RIVER JUNCTION – A Hartford search committee tasked with identifying the next town manager has narrowed the pool of candidates down to three, according to Selectboard Chairman Dan Fraser.
Fraser said Selectboard members have been interviewing the trio — all of whom are from New England –— in person during the past week, but he didn’t know when the board might make a final decision.
“It’s hard to say when it will be over. It depends on how we feel,” Fraser said. “If we do interviews and no one likes (the candidates), then we go back to the drawing board.”
Fraser said he is looking for someone with good leadership skills and financial knowledge who can help “bring the town and staff together” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The town started looking for a new town manager earlier this summer with help from a Meredith N.H.-based consulting company, Municipal Resources Inc. The firm posted a job advertisement on its website and narrowed down the applicants to a group of 15 before sending those applications to a town manager search committee comprised of Hartford residents.
The committee reviewed the submissions and narrowed the group to three candidates, who Fraser declined to name.
Former Town Manager Brannon Godfrey announced his resignation in April, effective this summer. In his resignation letter, Godfrey said part of his reason for the decision was a difference of opinion with the board over “the expectations for the role of the Town Manager.”
He and board members had several disagreements over the last year, specifically about the “Welcoming Hartford Ordinance,” which says that Hartford police should not share a person’s citizenship information with federal authorities.
Following Godfrey’s announcement, the board appointed Patrick MacQueen as interim town manager in early July.
MacQueen, who has previously served as interim town manager in Hartford in 2015 and Claremont in 2017, began working part time on Aug. 1, at a rate of $105 an hour.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.