Burns said they hope to interview the finalists either on Nov. 30 or Dec. 1.
PALMER – The Town Council only will interview two finalists for the town manager position, but the decision did not come without debate.
The council had originally wanted between three and five finalists to interview for Palmer’s top job, but as the search process wore on, two of the four finalists dropped out last week, leaving only Carter Terenzini, town manager in Moultonborough, N.H,. and Spencer’s former town manager, and Fred Ventresco, former town manager in Weare, N.H.
At Thursday’s Town Council meeting, Town Council President Paul E. Burns supported moving forward with just the two, saying to suspend the search again would “do the town a disservice.”
“We have two qualified people . . . We lose nothing by interviewing. By sitting here and insisting on process we run the risk of losing a town manager candidate,” Burns said.
Burns said the town manager search committee agrees with just moving Terenzini and Ventresco forward for the council to interview, and does not want to reopen the search for the third time.
Only councilors Barbara A. Barry and Michael R. Magiera voted against it. Councilor Raymond J. Remillard was absent.
Burns added that the council chose not to accept two late resumes submitted, which could have led to more finalists. He later said one was from former Amherst town manager Laurence R. Shaffer, who is now in the running for a similar post in Michigan.
Said Barry, “You set a deadline.” She said accepting those late resumes would have been unfair to others who had considered applying but didn’t because they missed the deadline.
The council reopened the search for a town manager after the first one yielded only two semi-finalists. The deadline for resumes in the second search was Sept. 30.
The council will discuss interview questions for the candidates at its meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Town Building. Burns said they hope to interview the finalists either on Nov. 30 or Dec. 1.
Former town manager Matthew S. Streeter was fired in June over concerns about his
job performance.