Great Barrington — At their regular meeting on Monday, January 27, the Selectboard appointed seven residents to a Town Manager Screening Committee; however, several residents also objected to the choice of appointments.
The town has been without a permanent town manager since Mark Pruhenski left at the end of 2024 to be the town manager for Middlebury, Vt. Following Pruhenski’s departure, the Selectboard named Town Planner and Assistant Town Manager Chris Rembold as the interim town manager until a permanent one was found.
Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon said 30 residents applied to serve on the committee. “By town charter, there is room for seven residents, therefore we have a decision to be made,” Bannon said. “This is the second time that something like this has happened. I’m not sure that, when the town charter was drafted and redrafted, we ever thought there would be this big of interest [on serving on a town committee].”
According to the list of candidates as reviewed by the Selectboard, five former Selectboard members applied to be on the committee: Kate Burke, Sean Stanton, Ed Abrahams, Walter Atwood, and Peter Fish. “While I think we have 30 great candidates, what I thought would be beneficial for the town is if we were to nominate past Selectboard members that have been voted [on the Selectboard] in previous times,” Selectboard member Eric Gabriel said. “[The candidates] have worked with past town managers, and I feel since they have had experience, they would know what is needed and what the challenges are.”
Selectboard member Ben Elliott agreed with Gabriel. “It’s a good way to set up a metric that helps because we have such an amazing pool of people,” Elliott said. “There isn’t a right way to whittle this down.”
Resident Doug Robbins, who applied to be on the committee, asked the Selectboard if there could be another process for evaluating the candidates as opposed to choosing candidates who previously served on the Selectboard. “I’m not disagreeing with the fact that people that are previous board members are certainly knowledgeable,” Robbins said. “But having some outside input that might not be typical outside of the boundaries of how we run the town previously [may be helpful].”
“There will be ways [for the community] to have input,” Bannon said. “Not necessarily reviewing the applications [for town manager] because how the screening committee works is that all of their work is done in executive session, so no names [of applicants] are released. The screening committee [process] is confidential. When it gets to the Selectboard, we have the final say, and those [applicants] names will be public.”
Resident Michelle Loubert said that she was concerned about the board’s methodology in choosing residents to serve on the committee. “If you are talking about people who have served on the Selectboard, you are going to have a set mindset,” Loubert said. “What you should be looking for is some diversity from all areas of the community when you are screening applicants, not just those who served on a Selectboard. I think [the Selectboard’s process of choosing candidates] is just an easy way to have people on the committee. Sometimes the easy way is not the best way. What I think you’re going to get is the same old mindset when selecting a town manager. I do not like your methodology in selecting candidates.”
“I don’t agree with what you are doing at all,” resident Claudia Shapiro told the Selectboard. “Personally, I had an extraordinary, extreme struggle with most of the [former] Selectboard [members] that you are naming. I’m just flat-out not comfortable with what you are doing.”
“You are all people with a certain level of power and privilege,” resident Jovnina Pagano said. “It would be good to have at least someone who has a freshness of thinking. I think it would be good if you choose at least one or two people who are not in the system.”
Selectboard member Garfield Reed said the committee should have diversity in its membership. “It’s good to have some experience, but I think [the committee] should be very diverse,” Reed said. “I don’t know if any minorities, Latinos or Blacks, have come forward, but I think that’s very important as well. I don’t think that we should appoint six people that have already been on [the Selectboard].”
“I feel as though having previous [Selectboard] members creates a monopoly,” said resident Maureen Quigley. “I think it’s important to allow people that haven’t served on the board to have an opportunity [to serve]. Otherwise, how do other people in the community ever have an opportunity if it just keeps on recycling with the same people?”
Reed suggested that the Selectboard postpone the decision.
“We can’t,” Bannon said. “[Town consultants] Community Paradigm Associates wants us to move forward on this.”
The Selectboard eventually selected Erik Bruun, Kate Burke, Jovanina Pagano, Marie Ryan, Sean Stanton, Thomas Blauvelt, and Fred Clark to serve on the committee. Burke and Stanton are former Selectboard members, and Ryan is a previous town clerk.
Click here for the Town Manager Screening Committee document reviewed by the Selectboard.