By Carol Britton Meyer

Roger Lewenberg and Kim Roy were appointed by the select board this week to fill the two community member openings on the town manager semifinalist search committee that will work with the consulting firm Community Paradigm Associates.

Other applicants interviewed April 12 were Stephen Applebaum, David P. Irwin, Susan Mann, Ann Marie Papasodero, Polly Rowe, Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, William Smyth, Francine Townsend, and Stephen White.

The consulting firm will ultimately present who they believe to be the best semifinalists to the committee for their review. The position is open due to the June retirement of Town Manager Philip Lemnios, who will serve in an interim capacity to assist with the transition.

Lewenberg, a retired judge, had summered in Hull for his whole life before becoming a year-round resident in 2005. He was interested in being a town manager early in his career and spent six months of his undergraduate training interning with the Ipswich town manager. Skills he considers to be of top priority in a town manager include “someone who has good ideas, shares them, and listens to others’ good ideas.”

Roy, currently the human resources director for the Town of Cohasset, has a background in recruiting for municipalities. Before moving to Hull four years ago, she served on the Halifax Select Board and in other government positions in that community.

The qualities she considers necessary include having “great communications skills, integrity, and a real understanding of the community.

“It’s a perfect dance when everyone is on the same plan … working for the greater good of the community and not a personal agenda,” she said.

Before Lewenberg and Roy were appointed, select board member Irwin Nesoff nominated Slemmer to serve as one of the community members, but that motion was not seconded.

After Roy was nominated and appointed and Lewenberg nominated, Nesoff – while acknowledging that Lewenberg “is highly qualified” – said his “only concern” was that some of the earlier candidates “who have been passed over” have been more involved with the town, serving on town committees.

In response, Select Board Chair Donna Pursel said that while involvement with the town is important to look for in the candidates for the semi-finalist committee, “I think it’s important to look at the bigger picture of what [else] can be brought to the table. Town hall experience is not the deciding factor.”

Board member Greg Grey seconded Lewenberg’s nomination.

Roy was appointed on a unanimous vote, while the vote for Lewenberg was 4-1, with Nesoff abstaining.

“We have an unbelievable list of candidates,” select board member Domenico Sestito said. “I’m very impressed by their qualifications.”

The first meeting of the committee is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 27. Nesoff, the select board representative to the committee, was appointed to serve as interim chair until the committee is up and running. Other members include select board member Greg Grey, advisory board member Patricia Cormier, and school committee member David Twombly.

The committee will meet throughout the month of May and ultimately recommend a list of finalists to the Select Board, which will make the final decision.

While the committee’s meetings will be posted, most of the work will be completed in executive session -- “until the finalist stage,” Lemnios said, although the consultant will be able to share general information about the number of candidates, for instance.

Although the names of the semi-finalists will not be made public, the finalists’ names will, after which the Select Board will proceed with the final selection process.

The committee is expected to present the final candidates to the Select Board around the second week of June.

Do you have an opinion on this issue? Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.