New Ipswich has hired former Wilton Town Administrator Scott Butcher to fill the position left vacant when Carlotta Pini left the position in May.
Pini left the position abruptly, and the Select Board at the time declined to comment on her departure. Since May, Pini’s predecessor, Joanne Meshna, has been filling the position in an interim capacity.
Selectman Bert Hamill said Monday the board had several rounds of attempting to recruit for the position, getting as far as making an offer at one point, only to have the candidate fall through.
“[Butcher] was a latecomer when it came to submitting a resume, but we felt he had all the qualifications we were looking for,” Hamill said. “We were looking for someone with an advanced degree, with prior experience as a town administrator, who wrote and spoke well and who was able to present themselves well to the public. Scott met all of those criteria. We now have a Town Administrator, thank God for small favors.”
Butcher’s salary will be $65,000 annually, and he will not be on a contract, Hamill said.
Butcher’s town administrator experience was in Wilton, where he held the post for a year before resigning, citing a lack of support from the Select Board and that his job description was a moving target. Butcher was the first town administrator Wilton ever had, stepping into a position created that year by a Town Meeting vote. Hamill said the board discussed his resignation from Wilton, and were satisfied that those problems won’t arise in New Ipswich, which has a set job description and expectations for the town administrator.
“It’s more closely defined. We’ve had multiple town administrators in the past, and we know what we want and how to communicate that to our town administrator,” Hamill said.
Prior to his post in Wilton, Butcher held several municipal posts in his hometown of Pepperell, Massachusetts having served on the Select Board, on the Board of Health, and as a member of the Master Plan Committee, Solid Waste Advisory Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Personnel Board. He’s also held management positions in the private sector.
Hamill said the biggest issue Butcher will be picking up is the funding for a new police facility. The town has tried twice before to pass a warrant article to fund either a new facility or purchasing and renovating the current department, which is leased. Both failed to gain the traction needed to pass, but the town will be trying again with an article again in 2020.
Hamill said the town also hired Butcher with a goal of improving departmental communications. Under the new administrator, the town will hold weekly department head meetings so staff are “all on the same page instead of hearing things through the grapevine,” Hamill said.
Meshna will mentor Butcher on an “as necessary” basis to pass on institutional knowledge, Hamill said, but will generally be returning to retirement.
Hamill thanked Meshna for her willingness to step back into the role while the board hired a permanent replacement.
“She’s been a God-send and doesn’t get enough credit for what she’s done for this town. I don’t know what we would have done in the meantime without her.”
Butcher’s first day of work was Monday.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.