The first step in the long process of considering a new town administrator position began with the Board of Selectmen naming a working group at its December 19 meeting.

The BOS voted unanimously to name current Selectman Maureen Crick Owen, former Selectman William Brimmer, former First Selectman Pat Llodra, and former Board of Finance member Ned Simpson.

“The work group will discuss the town administrator and take a deeper look into how it would look, and how it will be structured,” said First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who went on to thank Crick for participating in the work group.

The committee was chosen for its familiarity with and experience in municipal government.

Rosenthal has long been a proponent of relieving the elected first selectman of day-to-day administrative duties and assigning them to a different individual, such as a town manager.

A town manager, however, requires a change to the Town Charter, and the Legislative Council declined to charge the 2021 Charter Revision Commission with looking at a town manager, preferring instead to concentrate on another potentially large change — whether or not to keep an elected Board of Finance. That proposed elimination was rejected by voters at referendum on November 8.

Rosenthal found a new way of looking at the problem when he saw that Wilton hired a town administrator that works alongside the first selectman rather than changing the first selectman’s designation in the Charter.

Rosenthal said that creating a town administrator position could metaphorically give the town an ability to kick the tires on a town manager style of government without formally committing to the time-consuming process of including it in a future charter review.

“We can see how the revisions go,” said Rosenthal at the November 21 BOS meeting. “The big thing with a charter change is fear of the unknown. It’s a cliff jump. You’ve changed the charter and what if it doesn’t work out? Now you’ve changed the governing documents, and you have to change them back.”

Hiring a town administrator alters that by not requiring the charter change. The first selectman would still be a full-time position and still be charged with everything it is charged with in the charter, but the town can see how a professional town manager would change how the government runs in its day-to-day routine.

Rosenthal said that as time goes on, having the position will be “proof of concept,” and allow the public to become familiar with the idea. Any charter changes, say to reduce the first selectman’s role to allow a town administrator to fully take on administration of the town, could be made later.

The town administrator position would take on day-to-day duties such as managing staff, which would free up the first selectman to look at regional issues, economic development, and policy matters. Rosenthal said the position would give more stability for current staff, as the person they report to is not potentially one person, and then a different person in two years.

If the town administrator works out and a charter change is made to make the first selectman no longer a full-time position, Rosenthal said that would also attract more people to come forward and run for the position, as it would no longer be necessary to give up another job or running a business to take the position.

Adding a town administrator would require an additional salary be added to and paid for by the town budget each year. The position would be reviewed by the Board of Selectmen.

Rosenthal said that Wilton hired a former first selectman, Matt Knickerbocker, as its first town administrator.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.