Wellesley Council on Aging approves up to $17,000 from EOAI accounts for Director of Senior Services search

The Wellesley Council on Aging voted unanimously on March 11 to authorize up to $17,000 from EOAI accounts to retain an executive search firm to recruit a Director of Senior Services. Judy Gertler, Chair of the Council on Aging, moved the measure; Vice Chair Peter Grape seconded it, and a roll-call vote recorded nine YES votes.

Patricia Decker, Secretary, summarized a proposal from Community Paradigms that outlined three engagement options: Option 1 — interim director recruitment with limited outreach and an assessment of internal hiring barriers; Option 2 — a full executive search; and Option 3 — a combined approach that runs Options 1 and 2 concurrently. Board members discussed payment arrangements and how the board will define a “successful” search, noting concerns that a newly hired director who resigned after a short period (for example, three months) could complicate how success is judged. Board members agreed the Search Subcommittee is authorized to select a suitable search firm and may seek alternatives if Community Paradigms is not acceptable.

The motion, recorded in the minutes, authorized use of EOAI funds for recruitment and tasked the Search Subcommittee with vendor selection. The roll call showed the following votes in favor: Judy Gertler (Chair), Peter Grape (Vice Chair), Patricia Decker (Secretary), Patty Chen, Tim Fulham, Bernie Horan, Robert McCarthy, Corinne Monahan and Tina Wang. The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Next steps: the Search Subcommittee will proceed with selecting a search firm and defining the scope of work under the approved funding; no timeline for hire or vendor selection was specified in the minutes.