BRUNSWICK
Brunswick’s town council is meeting in closed session this week to interview candidates in person for the town manager position. Six candidates will be interviewed.
The first three candidates were interviewed Monday. The second group will be interviewed Wednesday, according to council Chairperson Benet Pols.
All six are working in New England. Three are from Maine, with other candidates working in Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The only known candidate is John Eldridge, who has been the town’s finance director for about 25 years and has been serving as interim manager since February.
Five candidates, including Eldridge, are now managing “a decent-sized community, if not a big community,” said Pols. “Another is running a substantial department in a much bigger municipality.”
If one or more candidates pass muster this week, Pols said some type of public involvement component would then be introduced.
“I think we’ve narrowed it down to a good group of candidates,” said Councilor David Watson on Monday. “Hopefully, we’ll come out of this with a candidate the council feels comfortable with.”
The six were culled from a pool of 49. Watson said forming a consensus within the council was relatively simple.
On Tuesday, Councilor John Richardson said he was “impressed with the high caliber of applicants we have interviewed, and I’m confident we will pick someone highly qualified.”
“We have had great candidates,” said Richardson. “Hopefully soon we will be selecting someone to help steer the town as we move forward into the foreseeable future.”
Councilor Jane Millett said she also felt good about the three candidates interviewed Monday.
“There’s a breadth of experience and knowledge,” she said.
What comes next depends on how satisfied the council is with the interviews, according to Pols.
“I can’t judge how it’s going to go,” said Pols. “There’s always a possibility that people will say, ‘They looked good on paper but no one did it for us.’”
jswinconeck@timesrecord.com
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