Hopkinton is in the midst of a great transition, and we are about to finally establish a Town Manager form of government. In May 2006 voters overwhelmingly passed the Charter, and we are now on the threshold of the new form of management in Town Hall that the Charter mandates. Mr. Anthony Troiano—currently the Assistant Town Administrator in Burlington, MA—has signed a contract to start as Hopkinton’s first Town manager on January 1, 2007; this contract is conditioned on a successful vote at Special Town Meeting December 21, 2006 to appropriate the necessary monies.
This change to Town manager government is the result of a lot of hard work over the last many years beginning with the second Government Study nearly eight years ago. The result of that study was the enormous and successful effort to establish a Charter Commission in 2004. Nine elected Charter Commission members worked long hours to craft the Charter we now have that was passed decisively in 2006.
While this big change and the upcoming transition might feel sudden to some, it actually is the last step in a nearly decade long process to adopt a more professional form of town management to oversee a budget in excess of $50 million annually and manage the day to day operations of a growing community. By design the Town Manager will take the reins for day to day management, and the Board of Selectmen will step back into a role more like a Board of Directors.
Anthony Troiano
Mr. Troiano has seventeen years experience in public sector senior level administrative management and holds a Masters in Public Administration. Prior to public sector work, he owned and operated his own successful business. He has been working since 2004 as the Assistant Town Administrator in Burlington, MA; in his words “I looked at Burlington like going to school” to get practical experience working for a capable Town Manager in a big town. While in
According to Mr. Gianino, the Burlington BOS Chair and a 14 year selectman, “Tony stepped up, and did a great job. He kept me informed and handled himself well.” Mr. Gianino finds Tony organized, capable and with good follow through. Tony explores and presents alternatives, and he is good with public explanations. Mr. Gianino also mentioned that Tony handles the interaction with five different, opinionated, and purposeful board members very well.
Mr. Troiano’s resume and work experience shows consistent professional progression, and the BOS is confident in his ability to establish the first Town Manager position for Hopkinton and fit in smoothly with the structure we have in place that is working so well. Tony impresses us as capable and prepared to step into this important role for Hopkinton. He is excited both about the opportunity and the community. He is outgoing, gregarious, and approachable. He has a resume that clearly establishes that he has a very strong work ethic. While he understands that we have a lot going for us in Hopkinton, he is looking forward to being proactive tackling our big concerns—tax base, budget, and financial structure. He wants to fit in while also making the changes that are necessary.
The Selectmen have a great deal of confidence in Mr. Troiano’s ability to establish the TM position and fit in with the existing structure.
The Search and Selection Process:
The search committee, per Charter, consisted of 1 representative from the Appropriation Committee, Fred Hoskins, 2 from Personnel, Ezat Parnia & Kathy Laflash, and 2 at-large appointees, Mike Neece & Jean Vickers. The Board of Selectmen has every confidence that they did a professional, capable and objective job; contrary to some reports, each of the four finalists was very strong in varying ways. The applicants in the process are kept confidential until finalists are announced; only the finalists are identified. This is largely to ensure applicants can apply without jeopardizing their current employment situation. This also means that the applicants provide a limited amount of references that the Search Committee could contact until after the finalists were announced. In our case, educational credentials were verified and listed references checked for all finalists before the BOS interview process.
At that point the BOS took over the selection process beginning with an in-depth interview that included a case study question finalists were asked to address in writing before the interview.
At the conclusion of the interviews, the BOS had two candidates in mind for consideration. We then asked the Fire Chief, Police Chief, Appropriation Committee Chair, and School Superintendent to call their counterparts in the towns where the 2 finalists work now and where they last worked. The BOS members also made phone calls, and the HR department finalized their reference checking work.
We met again and unanimously chose Mr. Troiano as our new TM. We have offered Mr. Troiano the job, we have signed the contract and he is excited to get to work for Hopkinton.
Muriel Kramer, Chair Hopkinton Board of Selectmen