Hubbardston committee adopts 2018 job description, sets early-April posting and May interviews for town administrator search

The Municipal Complex Building Committee of the Town of Hubbardston voted to adopt the July 2018 town administrator job description as the basis for a new hiring process and set a compressed timeline to fill the position.

Committee members agreed to post the vacancy on commonly used outlets (MMA, Indeed), the town website and social channels and to use the town sign and department pages to amplify the posting. The group settled on a shorter posting window to keep the process moving, targeting an April posting that committee members discussed closing in mid-April; members specifically proposed a two-week window beginning April 1 and ending mid-April. The committee also scheduled a public listening session during the posting period to gather community input.

Why it matters: the committee said the town is operating with an interim town administrator who could leave before a permanent hire is found, and members emphasized moving quickly to avoid losing viable candidates to other communities. The committee set an aspirational goal of having a new town administrator in place by July 1.

The committee formally moved to adopt the July 2018 job description for use in the current search and approved that motion. Members discussed prior recruitment vendors (Community Paradigm and MRI) and compared posting options; they noted MMA postings are low-cost and that posting to Indeed and the town website would broaden reach. "Another place I saw them use the committees and commissions," resident Mike Stall said, recommending that committees and commissions be invited to provide representatives for listening sessions so a wider set of stakeholders can offer input.

The committee discussed compensation and budget context. Members noted the FY26 budget includes a town administrator line at $115,566 and emphasized that the select board must confirm the salary range to include in the posting; the group warned that a low posted range may reduce the quality of applicant pools. Committee members also noted that applicant screening and early-round interviews will be held in executive session to protect candidate privacy.

Scheduling agreed at the meeting included a public listening session during the posting period (committee members discussed April 15 as a tentative date), resume review around April 29 and interviews in early to mid-May, with the committee planning to present three recommended finalists to the select board. The committee confirmed that Mel (identified at the meeting as the town webmaster) and department heads can post and share materials on the town site and across department pages.

Next steps: the committee will finalize the posting text, get a confirmed salary range from the select board for inclusion, post the vacancy, hold the listening session, score resumes, and proceed to executive-session interviews and finalist selection for the select board. The meeting adjourned after members confirmed the schedule.

(Reporting note: direct attributions in this article are limited to speakers who self-identified during introductions and to statements that were recorded in the meeting; many procedural comments and votes were cast by unidentified committee members and are described here as committee actions.)