Jaffrey’s Select Board has worked out a strategy to replace departing Town Manager Dave Caron.
Board Chair Don MacIsaac said Tuesday that the town will look to hire an interim town manager, likely someone who has retired from the field, to replace Caron, who will depart from his post at the beginning of December for a new job as town manager in Derry.
“We expect to have an interim town manager in place by the time Dave leaves,” said MacIsaac. “My guess is that we can resolve this all in a matter of weeks.”
MacIsaac said the town will look to hire an interim first, as it is unlikely that a permanent replacement could be found by the time Caron leaves. The board will use a recruiting firm to hire both a replacement interim and permanent town manager, he said.
“It could take as long as 20 weeks to find a permanent solution,” said MacIsaac. “We hope to have a new town manager in place for Town Meeting.”
MacIsaac said he is sad to see Caron go, as he has done much to help the town, including assisting with a number of personnel transitions, resolving an operational issue with the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance and establishing a more planned approach to capital spending.
“Dave is a damn good town manager,” said MacIsaac. “He brought a lot to the job. We hope to build on that and move forward.”
Caron said at Monday’s board meeting that he is already looking at ways to make the transition easier for the town, which includes changes to the budget schedule and creating a list of ongoing projects for the new hire.
Normally, Caron said, he would receive recommendations from department heads on the budget by Dec.1, but that will now happen sooner in the year so Caron can share a preliminary budget with the Select Board and Budget Committee.
The Select Board, in conjunction with Budget Committee chair Norman Langevin, approved to have a joint meeting on Nov. 28 where Caron can present preliminary budgets to both parties.
Normally, Caron presents the budget to the Budget Committee during their December meeting, but he can no longer do that, as his last day is scheduled for Dec. 2.
“I plan to have everything ready on November 28th,” said Caron. “I don’t want to leave you guys hanging.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.