Town Hall will contain a few new faces this week as officials announced their selections for a handful of the town government’s vacant positions at a Select Board meeting on Aug. 24.

Current town clerk’s office employee Kelly Thompson has accepted the position of assistant town clerk and will be working with new Interim Town Clerk Sarah Arruda once Arruda starts on Aug. 31, Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes stated at the meeting.

The pair will have their work cut out for them starting months into an election year, with a primary election on Sept. 1 and a presidential election on Nov. 3.

MacInnes said that Thompson “has been filling in admirably” in the clerk’s office following the retirement of former town clerk Lynn Medeiros and the departure of former assistant town clerk Victoria Garie in July.

“I think it’s going to be a great team,” said MacInnes of Arruda and Thompson. “They’re both very bright and organized...I think it’s gonna be a nice office down there.”

Meanwhile the Select Board voted 3-1 to appoint former Dartmouth town employee Cody Haddad as interim director of development. Haddad follows Deb Melino-Wender, who retired in July after ten years in the position.

“In his time here in Dartmouth, Cody worked on a number of large-scale projects. He was acting as our energy manager,” MacInnes said. “He’s very qualified...We’re excited to have him back and I think he’s going to be a great asset to really hit the ground running.”

The lone dissenting vote was cast by board member John Haran, who said he would have liked to see the position advertised so that Dartmouth taxpayers could apply.

Haddad will start on Aug. 26 and remain in the interim position — which pays a salary of $70,000 — for one year.

At the same meeting, the Select Board also voted 3-1 to appoint Robert Almy to the Board of Public Works. 

Almy has extensive experience in groundwater geology, working in that capacity for the state of Oregon and managing the Santa Barbara County water agency for 14 years, he said, adding that he has also worked in and for a number of public agencies in Massachusetts as a groundwater consultant.

“I tend to be information-driven, and try very hard to stay away from politics,” he stated.

Board of Public Works chair Brian Hawes said that “with all the water work that we’re doing right now...I think it’s probably a good time to take somebody who has some real in-depth water experience.”

John Haran was the only Select Board member to vote against Almy’s appointment, as he preferred a different candidate. 

“It’s important to have engineers on the board, but it’s also important to have a layperson...someone who looks at things from a different perspective,” he said.

Haran was also appointed to sit on the Bristol County advisory board for another year at the same meeting.

Meanwhile the Select Board also set a deadline of Sept. 4 for submission of letters of interest for longtime Planning Board member John Sousa’s newly vacant seat.

“John has been involved for about a million years, and it’s unfortunate that he’s leaving,” said Select Board chair Frank Gracie III. “I certainly would like to thank him for all he’s done for the town.”

The board agreed to send a certificate to thank Sousa for his years of volunteering on the town’s Planning Board.

Select Board members will advertise the position and then choose an interim appointee to hold the spot until April. The appointee would then have to run for election to complete the rest of Sousa’s term, which finishes in April 2023. 

They said they hoped to choose someone by Sept. 14.

The board will also advertise to fill a Historical Commission seat left by Keith Kauppila, and decided to hold off on appointing two members to the charter review committee until September.

An earlier version of this article contained an erroneous figure for Cody Haddad’s salary. It has been amended.