CLAREMONT — The City Council selected four residents Tuesday to help choose the next city manager.
Ray Gagnon, Joe Osgood, Mark Limoges and Lloyd Smrkovski were named as the residents who will serve on the nine-member panel with five city officials. The four were selected from a list of 13 applicants.
The committee also includes five city officials: Assistant Mayor Allen Damren, councilors Jonathan Stone and Claire Lessard, Police Chief Mark Chase, and Recreation Director Mark Brislin.s
After the meeting, Damren said his hope is to begin advertising for the position early next month, with responses by the end of May followed by interviews. The job posting and profile still need to be finalized, though Damren said it is likely they will be able to make some edits to what was used when Ryan McNutt was hired in February 2017. McNutt was fired by the council in early January, and former Keene City Manager John MacLean has been serving in the interim.
In selecting the four residents, Damren, who chaired the meeting in place of Mayor Charlene Lovett, who was absent, first asked each councilor to list their top four applicants.
Gagnon received the most votes with five, followed by four each for Limoges, Smrkovski, Osgood and Colby Casey, who worked 21 years for the police department.
Casey was dropped from consideration after councilor Andrew O’Hearne noted that Casey still works part time with the police department.
O’Hearne said Casey, whom he said he had “nothing but respect for,” would potentially be hiring his boss. He also pointed out that applicant Kristin Kenniston, who received three votes, is married to a firefighter.
Being a city employee or closely tied to one was a problem to O’Hearne.
“I don’t want that,” he said.
When each councilor was asked to list the reasons for their selections, they pointed to the applicants’ experience, either in business or politics, and also their service on other boards.
Joe Osgood is a former Cornish police chief, business owner and state representative. He also has been active politically, often voicing his opinions at council meetings.
He expressed outrage last year when it became known the city assessor gave a tax abatement of $220,000 on the Mulberry Street property known as the Topstone building. The property’s assessment also was reduced 75 percent. Osgood did more than complain; he asserted that the council had the authority to overturn the decision, which it did not.
Councilors cited Limoges’ business experience as an important factor in his selection.
Councilor Nick Koloski said he was concerned because Limoges has a business interest with councilor Stone.
“How will that look down the road?” Koloski asked.
However, Damren pointed out that in a small community with people who have lived there for years, it can be hard to find someone who may not have a connection like the one cited by Koloski.
Gagnon is a former mayor, served as a U.S. Marshal during the Clinton administration and was also a state representative for several terms.
Smkrovski is a retired military man who went to college in Minnesota and has numerous science degrees including Ph.D.s in microbiology, parasitology and immunology. He has lived in the city for 10 years.
In addition to naming residents to the committee, councilors also agreed that they still must determine the salary and benefits for the position.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
