In a 4-1 vote Monday night, Dec. 16, the Select Board decided to offer the position of town administrator to Bridget Almon, who is currently the director of finance in Fall River.

The vote in opposition came from Select Board Chair Shawn McDonald, who was in favor of redoing the search, with members of the board having voiced their dissatisfaction with the work completed by the search firm Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston. 

While he doesn’t expect to find the “perfect” person for the position, he wanted the board to feel more confident in who they chose, McDonald said, adding the search firm simply posted the job and didn’t “shake any trees” for more candidates.

While this option was considered by the board, members ultimately decided to select a candidate, not wanting to risk prolonged instability. With former town administrator Shawn MacInnes making his exit back in June, board member David Tatelbaum said restarting the search would mean another year before someone was comfortably in the position.

Board members agreed choosing Almon wasn’t an easy one as they dealt with uncertainty following last week’s interviews with Almon, Shawn Cadime, currently the town administrator in Seekonk, Gary Carreiro, currently the director of Budget and Finance as well as co-interim town administrator in Dartmouth, and Chris Vitale, currently the assistant town Administrator and co-interim Town Administrator in Dartmouth.

However, Select Board member Heidi Silva Brooks said she believed Almon’s leadership would balance well with the work of Vitale and Carreiro in the positions they were hired to do, adding while both are great candidates, they lack certain experience for the position.

Select Board member Chris O’Neil said Dartmouth’s budgetary issues would benefit from Almon’s leadership given her experience handling Fall River’s over $430 million budget.

The board additionally voted to work with town counsel to stipulate a one-year review in the three-year contract, which would evaluate the administrator’s performance metrics.

At the interviews, the four candidates were asked the same set of questions, 60-70% of which came from town employees, and board members had the opportunity to ask follow-ups. The questions addressed experience, communication, work style and specifics of the position.

Bridget Almon

In her interview, Almon said in addition to her love for open and constant communication, she always wants employees to have opportunities for the training they need to foster an environment of growing and learning that would support strong succession planning.

She said customer service is important to her. Using tax taking as an example, she highlighted how Fall River had over 1,000 parcels of back taxes and after making phone calls and scrubbing the data, only 100 were advertised. Having recently seen Dartmouth’s advertisement, she said this is something to consider when thinking of customer service, pointing out one of the advertised individuals owing less than $7.

She said getting feedback from the community and town departments is a major focus when it comes to the budget and planning, understanding what the residents value in the town and then balancing that with what the town needs.

Almon highlighted her over 15 years of experience with long-term planning and budgets in both public and private sectors, noting how her work with private industries has provided valuable experience in handling everything efficiently.

She said her department is building dashboards and implementing the use of a grant tracking software to get a quicker and overall picture of how the budget is operating.

“That was one way of providing efficiency and getting the job done when I don’t have the personnel to do it,” Almon added.

Additionally, she said she’s been building the city’s stabilization fund, hoping to grow it from $17 million to $25 million and using the investment earnings to take care of small capital projects. 

Having spent approximately eight years working in schools, Almon said she has gained experience in grant writing and understanding the language and goals of a school system, noting that they are only one piece of the budget.

She said she would like to work closely with the town planner to get a clear understanding of the town’s vision, in the short-term and long-term, and help provide ideas and options.

Almon said she’s had a strong sense of self discipline from a young age, highlighting how she got her pilot’s licence at 18.

“I have high expectations for myself and I feel that translates into the people that work around me,” she said. 

Chris Vitale

In his interview, Vitale said a town administrator always needs to be ready to change to the needs of their employees and town, adding there needs to be an investment in the community at large. He highlighted Engage Dartmouth and how useful it has been in keeping the town up-to-date on what’s happening and keeping officials informed on how residents feel.

Previously the director of economic development and communications for the town of Bristol, he said he was consistently looking at capital planning efforts in regard to funding and timelines, completing grants and managing projects with the help of department heads.

He said his experience as the assistant town administrator in the town of Leicester involved helping with the development of the town’s budget due to the lack of a separate finance director position. 

Vitale highlighted the importance of dealing with Dartmouth’s budget, adding it is vital to consider what residents’ wants are, what has been strategically planned for the town and what the existing revenues actually are.

Similar to the master plan, Vitale added, “Having a blueprint for how Dartmouth is going to address [the budget] in specific measurable goals is going to be really crucial the next three to five years.”

Having foresight of the town’s aging infrastructure and knowing it will need to be addressed in the near future has been valuable for this, he said, adding that this needs to continue.

“I’m invested,” Vitale said. “I know the issues we face and I want to be part of the solution as the town administrator.”

Gary Carreiro

In his interview, Carreiro said an open door policy is more than just a slogan to him and approachability is just as important. He highlighted the value of looking beyond Town Hall when considering visibility and communication and noted that the town should not have its services completely online, arguing an in-person component is vital for some residents.

Pointing out the number of vacancies, Carreiro said there could be some value in holding a summit for the community to promote current committees and boards, adding how there are likely residents who have the experience the town is looking for.

He shared his planning and budget experience, highlighting his work on Westport’s fire station, school and police station, which he did as a member of the town’s Finance Committee, and his time serving as the assistant treasurer in Fall River.

“Nobody wants their taxes raised — that’s a given,” Carreiro said. “But at the same time, we have to address the infrastructure that’s 30, 40, 50 years old in some cases — if not more.”

He noted communication with the public as the key in helping the community understand the decisions are being made out of necessity and not desire, adding there is value to the outcomes of that work such as clean water and a competitive school system.

Carreiro said he’d like to see Dartmouth remain a business-friendly town that helps them flourish, highlighting their value in providing jobs and noting that commercial business makes up approximately 20% of the town’s collected revenue. 

He added this work should be done while also supporting the Buzzards Bay Coalition and additional environmental efforts happening in the area.

Carreiro said he began in the private sector, but it wasn’t for him, and since joining the public, he’s climbed his way up through the ranks and has seen the importance of connecting with the community.

“I’ve done it,” he said. “I’ve seen. I’ve rolled up my sleeves.”

Shawn Cadime

In his interview, Cadime said it’s a mistake for a town administrator to stay in their office. Between picking up the phone and site visits, he said he is constantly in communication with the people in the town of Seekonk.

However, he said checking a box that a conversation has taken place isn’t enough and highlighted the value of developing organic relationships with employees and residents.

Thinking about long-term planning, Cadime said public hearings are vital for understanding what the stakeholders want to see. In capital planning, he highlighted how prioritizing projects is important and identifying the smaller projects that could get overlooked is vital. He said oftentimes, if planning is done right, there should be little conflict with economic development and environmental protection.

Cadime said when he first began in the chief operating officer role at Fall River, their budget, which was approximately $350 million at the time, had a number of issues, including with cash flow — leaving vendors without pay for about six months.

The whole Finance Department saw turnover, which Cadime said forced him to learn a lot quickly, but he added, “The best learning is to get thrown in the fire”

“Dartmouth feels like home in so many different ways,” he said, highlighting how he graduated from Bishop Stang High School and that his daughter currently plays on the Dartmouth MetroWest basketball team.

In addition to his role as town administrator for Seekonk, Cadime is also a member of the Fall River City Council, which was a concern for the Dartmouth Select Board given the time commitment needed for the position. Cadime said if he was chosen by the board, he would request that he could finish out the rest of his term, which is one year, but that he’d be willing to do what was necessary to accommodate the board.

Board members were unhappy that Cadime wasn’t initially forthcoming about breaking International City/County Management Association by-laws, by running for mayor in Fall River back in 2014, which led to a public censure.

Cadime said he was unaware of that regulation at the time and has since discontinued his membership with the association.