AMHERST — Three administrators with extensive municipal experience in New England are finalists for town manager in Amherst.
Paul Bockelman, of Somerville, Maria E. Capriola, of Willimantic, Connecticut, and William J. Fraser, of Montpelier, Vermont, were recommended by the Town Manager Preliminary Screening Committee to the Select Board Monday.
Bockelman has held the post of director of administration and finance at the Massachusetts Municipal Association since 2004. Capriola since January 2007 has been the assistant town manager in Mansfield, Connecticut, which contains Storrs, the home of the University of Connecticut.
Fraser has been the city manager in Montpelier since March 1995.
Screening committee chairman James Pistrang said the committee was pleased with the “quality and depth” of the candidates.
Background checks have been completed and references have been examined by Bernard Lynch, the executive recruiter from Community Paradigm Associates of Plymouth hired by the town.
Since the September death of town manager John Musante, two interim town managers have guided the town — assistant town manager David Ziomek through January, and current interim town manager Peter Hechenbleikner since Feb. 1. Neither applied to become the permanent town manager.
A Hampshire College graduate, Bockelman was town administrator at Manchester-by-the-Sea from 1986 to 1999. He wrote in his cover letter that his personal attributes are a match for Amherst.
“I believe in working openly with every constituency to articulate problems and work toward consensus to an orderly and well-defined solution,” Bockelman wrote.
A UConn graduate, Capriola previously served as assistant chief administrative officer in Newburyport and as a management analyst in Savannah, Georgia. Capriola wrote in her cover letter that she would bring to Amherst varied experiences in different locations.
“I am dedicated, hard working, intrinsically motivated and strive to make a positive impact on the quality of life for citizens in the community I am serving,” Capriola wrote.
A University of Maine graduate, Fraser was town manager and town administrator in Wakefield and Farmington, both in New Hampshire, and Ogunquit, Maine. In his cover letter, Fraser describes himself as passionate about municipal government and having a collaborative style.
“I believe in hiring excellent employees, empowering them and having decisions or recommendations made by those with the most direct knowledge of the subject,” Fraser wrote.
All candidates are knowledgeable and bring excellent skills, Lynch said. Interviews with the Select Board, daylong tours of the town and meetings with officials and employees, tentatively scheduled for April 25, 26 and 27, will give the board a better sense of their personalities, Lynch said.
Lynch said the pool of candidates extended across the country and the screening committee, over the course of six meetings, interviewed several qualified candidates.
“I received a number of applications beyond that. I don’t think it was just limited to New England,” Lynch said.
Lynch said the formation of a Charter Commission, which held its second meeting Monday after being approved by voters March 29, was a matter of concern to many candidates, as the commission could make recommendations to change the style of government, including possibly eliminating the town manager’s position.
But it’s uncertain if this had any impact on the pool of applicants.
“It was something I had to work through with a number of them,” Lynch said.
Whoever is selected among the three finalists to become Amherst’s next permanent town manager should have both political and personal skills, and an ability to shrug off opinions from detractors, according to longtime political observers and participants in Amherst town government.
“The town manager needs to have some political sense, judgment of town politics and a particular skin to put up with being criticized,” said Lewis Mainzer, a Town Meeting member and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts.
Mainzer said success will be marked by picking good people to oversee departments, understanding how employees are functioning, and performing well in front of Town Meeting, where it is necessary to develop the confidence of the legislative body.
“This combination of skills means a purely managerial fellow deaf to people’s passions might run into trouble,” Mainzer said.
Mainzer said the Select Board choice will be based less on science and more on matchmaking abilities.
Former town moderator Harrison Gregg said a “thick skin” is essential for the candidate selected, and also a patience in recognizing that political processes in Amherst aren’t quick.
“You have to be someone who appreciates the value of it and deal with it positively, and not be overwhelmed by it,” Gregg said.
The person chosen should have great ideas, problem-solving abilities and an ability to communicate, Gregg said.
Town Meeting member and former Planning Board member Denise Barberet said the town manager should recognize that multiple viewpoints exist and that Amherst is not a monolithic community.
“This town is increasingly divided on many issues, and when people feel that their perspectives are not represented or are ignored, it will lead to further division, and a needless waste of time and resources that could be better spent on building true consensus,” Barberet said.
Working as town manager for more than 21 years, Fraser says his leadership style has created conditions in which the annual budget has been approved by an increasingly higher percentage of voters.
The support for the direction he has pursued in his role is growing, Fraser says, and this could transfer well to Amherst.
“It seems like it’s a good match for my style,” Fraser said in a phone interview Tuesday from his home in Montpelier.
Fraser said he will focus on combating economic disparity and promoting economic development, and finding ways to pay for building projects and other long-term expenses.
“I think every town is struggling with capital needs and how to fund the aging infrastructure,” Fraser said.
Capriola, assistant town manager for Mansfield, Connecticut, since 2007, in an email Tuesday sent a link to a spotlight feature in an online University of Connecticut alumni publication, in which the Bennington, Vermont native said she aspires to be a city or town manager.
In her cover letter submitted to the Town Manager Screening Committee, Capriola states that her style will work well in Amherst.
“I have demonstrated an ability to lead staff and build a sense of team, even during difficult and challenging situations,” Capriola wrote.
Capriola added that she will use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to problem solving and decision-making.
Bockelman didn’t return phone calls or an email Tuesday and Wednesday. In Bockelman’s cover letter submitted to the search committee, he cites an appreciation for Town Meeting and a hope return to Amherst.
“While I am comfortable providing direction and articulating the vision for the town to a broader audience, my leadership style starts with active listening to the residents, employees and elected officials who are creating that vision,” Bockelman wrote.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
