Great Barrington —Great Barrington town manager Jennifer Tabakin, a finalist for a similar post in Adams, did not receive an offer for the job when the board of selectmen made its final decision this week.
Interim Adams town administrator Donna E. Cesan confirmed to The Edge that at their Wednesday meeting, the selectmen appointed Jay Green, a district manager for Amtrak and a former chief administrative officer for the city of North Adams, to become the next town administrator.
A lawyer, Green also worked previously as an assistant district attorney in the Berkshire DA’s office in Pittsfield. In addition, Green serves as president of the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum.
Four selectmen voted for Green and the fifth, Joseph Nowak, abstained after initially nominating Tabakin, then withdrawing his nomination after realizing the remaining board members favored Green.
Tabakin declined to comment. She announced last May that she would not seek to have her contract renewed when it expires at the end of June of this year. Her status as one of three finalists for the position in Adams became public when the selectmen there interviewed Tabakin and the others in open session.
Tabakin replaced the controversial Kevin O’Donnell as Great Barrington town manager in 2013. O’Donnell’s contract was not renewed after poor performance reviews. Tabakin has received mostly positive reviews. She had worked previously as a senior project manager for both the office of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
It is not clear precisely much the town of Adams is willing to pay Green. Cesan said the selectmen are looking to wrap up negotiations and have Green begin work as soon as possible, perhaps within two or three weeks.
In April, the selectmen set aside $95,000 in the budget for the town administrator’s salary. Cesan said the salary is expected to be in the $85,000 to $90,000 range. In Great Barrington, Tabakin is earning slightly more than $120,000.
Earlier this month, the Great Barrington selectboard appointed a seven-member town manager search committee to find Tabakin’s replacement consisting of Anne O’Dwyer, John Katz, Krista Haley, Peter Taylor, Michael Wise, Sean Stanton and Ben Downing.
The first meeting of the panel will be tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. in Town Hall. The committee will elect officers and adjourn to executive session to meet with the search firm’s representative, who will provide a summary of the search thus far. Click here to see the agenda.
Selectboard Chairman Steve Bannon told The Edge the next meeting of the search committee will be Wednesday, March 6, with public interviews with finalists slated for late March.
