PLAINFIELD — After 37 years as town administrator, Stephen Halleran plans to retire next year. But whoever takes the reins won’t start single-handedly.
Halleran, who turned 60 on Tuesday, grew up in Plainfield and doesn’t plan on going anywhere. His retirement is set for next April, and the town hopes to onboard his replacement in January, providing up to four months of overlap.
“It’s nice if the person who comes in has some experience. If they don’t, then obviously they’re going to have a bigger ramp-up time,” Halleran said Monday by phone.
Halleran started as a town official in September 1989 and has watched Plainfield evolve over the years.
The previously blue-collar town has “been on the march” toward becoming a white-collar town, he said. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s move from Hanover to Lebanon back in 1991 helped spark this change.
While a few major farms in town remain, most residents commute to Lebanon, often working at the main medical center or a connecting part of it. The strong agricultural community has diminished over the years, he said.
When Halleran started, almost every town employee was a town resident. Now there’s more of a mix. The housing market became more expensive closer to Lebanon, he pointed out. Home ownership also turns over much more quickly now.
“We don’t have the legacy families in town that we used to have,” Halleran said.
Nowadays, houses more commonly come with no mortgages, as people are purchasing their second or third homes and moving out sooner, Halleran said.
“The town’s getting older. When I went to Plainfield Elementary School, there were 300 kids,” Halleran said. “There’s barely 200 now.”
Townspeople are much older on average than they used to be, with the median age being 39 years old. In 1980, the median age was 30 years old.
There are 499 residents 65 and older out of a 2,550 total, based on 2024 data. That is the second most populous age range, behind only 35 to 54 years old at 584 residents.
Some things, however, haven’t changed.
Plainfield’s government prides itself on approachability, Halleran said. The town office is fully staffed an open 40 hours a week.
“Government close to the people works the best. We’re right here every day,” Halleran said.
In the past three decades, Plainfield has improved its infrastructure, with better road access and new bridges. The town office has also become automated, but remains warm and welcoming for residents, Halleran said.
One particular project that stands out to Halleran: A 1991 committee formed a small drop-off recycling center in an effort to reduce trash going to the Lebanon landfill. A few years later, it turned into the curbside recycling system that’s still operating.
The town administrator’s job is to act on behalf of the Selectboard and support the needs of town departments, as opposed to overseeing them. Halleran also serves as the zoning administrator.
The town government is searching for a bookkeeper who can take some accounting responsibilities off the next town administrator, about eight hours of work a week.
Halleran had hoped to retire at 55, but opted to stick around through the pandemic.
“It seemed like a bad time to leave the town,” said Halleran, who has committed to getting Plainfield through the 2027 town meeting in March.
The selectboard signed a $12,000 contract with Beverly Widger, a resident with consulting firm HRXperienced, to help find the next town administrator. Widger helped Plainfield hire a new police chief a year and a half ago.
“The town means a lot to me and my family has been here for generations,” said Widger, who is also chair of the Town Hall Committee and a supervisor of the voter checklist.
The goal is to advertise for the job July 15, she said. Then, a committee of residents will bring recommendations to the selectboard for final approval. Widger will screen and conduct a preliminary interview with all candidates before passing them along.
Many details remain up in the air. For instance, the selectboard plans to consider the town administrator job description and work out committee details at its regular Wednesday meetings, Widger said.
Halleran feels upbeat about the state Plainfield is in, attributing it to a great network of people who volunteer their time to make it better. He added, that in all his years, there’s never been a selectboard member who he doesn’t consider a friend to this day.
“No town administrator stays 37 years if not surrounded by really well meaning and intended board members and people,” Halleran said.
The Plainfield Selectboard is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Meriden Town Hall, 110 Main Street.
