SOUTH HADLEY — The Select Board has voted to continue its search for a new town administrator after three out of four finalists for the position pulled their names out of consideration over the past month.
The board voted unanimously on April 27 to reopen its search for someone to replace current Town Administrator Michael Sullivan, who has announced he will be retiring when his contract expires on June 30.
On April 20, the firm conducting the town’s search, Community Paradigm Associates, presented two finalists to the Select Board, noting that two others had withdrawn from consideration before the meeting.
Soon after those two finalists were announced, however, one of them — Alan Wolf, the chief of staff to Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz— backed out of the process. That left only one finalist remaining: Stuart Beckley, the current town administrator in Ware, who previously served as Easthampton’s city planner.
Beckley would automatically advance as a finalist after a new search is conducted, but the Select Board will be discussing at its meeting on May 3 whether to change the position’s job description and salary range.
Sullivan has served as town administrator since 2013 and was mayor of Holyoke from 2000 to 2010. Working a four-day workweek in his final year in office, he is being paid a $119,000 salary in his final year. He previously earned a $129,999 annual salary.
“It’s a tough position to fill, not just in South Hadley but in many other communities,” he said.
