By Carol Britton Meyer

All three finalists for the Hull town manager position were considered to be strong candidates, select board members said at their meeting last Thursday night before choosing former board Chair Jennifer Constable to replace Philip Lemnios.

Peter Caruso is currently the town administrator of Millville, a position he has held for the past four years. Thomas Guerino served as Bourne’s town administrator from 2005 to 2019 and is currently the executive director of the Greenfield Housing Authority.

“We had three excellent candidates,” said select board member Irwin Nesoff, who served as chair of the search committee.

Constable was named to the position in large part because of her knowledge of Hull and her relationships with outside organizations such as the Massachusetts Area Planning Council and the Department of Conservation & Recreation.

During his interview, Caruso, a Scituate resident, said he appreciates all of Hull’s “nooks and crannies” and finds the town and its coexistence with the ocean “fascinating.”

He was also impressed with the number of candidates in the recent select board race.

In explaining his management style, Caruso said he always tries to be prepared while maintaining a sense of humor. One of his goals as a town manager would be “to help people be the best they can be in the municipal sector, coaching and acting as cheerleader, educator, and sometimes a student. You have to earn their respect.”

He also believes it’s important to be open, to set expectations, and to get “all the town departments to buy in and understand the financial challenges facing the town.”

When asked how he would increase the level of citizens’ trust as Hull’s town manager, he said finding a way for everyone to get along and “allowing people to have input” is helpful.

With regard to public input at meetings, Caruso said having the select board manage the dialogue “even with parameters in place” is key. “Having someone in blue at the back of the room when you think a conversation might get dicey helps ensure that a meeting remains civil,” he said.

With regard to sound financial management, Caruso referred to himself as a “budgetmeister.”

It’s not something that a town manager can do alone. “It’s important to try to live within a town’s means and to have a good relationship with the school district and the superintendent,” he said.

Caruso noted that the fact that Hull has a number of shovel-ready projects helps pave the way for successful grant applications to pay a portion of the costs.

He also observed that because Hull doesn’t have much open space left, it would be good for the select board “to put a stake in the ground” regarding finding a balance between growth and “not pushing residents out of the way” during that process.

With regard to hiring an assistant town manager as approved by the recent town meeting, he thinks that rather than hiring a human resources expert, the town would be better served by someone who could assist with grant writing, procurements, and special projects. 

Caruso also acknowledged what Hull’s public safety officials and EMS staff “have to deal with on summer weekends. You never know what to expect.”

During his interview, Guerino said he spent two full days meeting in person or conversing by telephone with different Hull department leaders and has driven and walked around town.

He described his management style as “horizontal and approachable. I don’t micromanage the town departments.”

Part of his job would be to set goals with department heads and benchmarks, and if there’s a “hiccup” to find a way to address it and move forward.

If chosen for the position, Guerino said he would identify and address any “pressure points” that required special attention and find out the board’s consensus on the matter.

“I would attend every meeting I could for the first couple of months to be visible and out there and let elected folks know I am available,” he said.

Guerino also suggested running a “community academy” several times to help citizens become familiar with different aspects of Hull’s town government and how it is run.

While serving as town administrator of Bourne from 2005 to 2019, Guerino explained how he dealt with an unexpected necessary significant expenditure, working out a strategy to address the shortfall “and shore up our finances. We did some trimming, got a small override, only the second one since 1991, which failed, and created a new financial policy on the municipal and school sides,” he said. “The financial team worked hard over a number of years, and when I left the town was sitting on $8 million in free cash and a little less in the stabilization fund.”

The town’s financial rating also improved greatly under his leadership, he said.

Guerino envisions the assistant town manager as someone “eager who might not have municipal experience, but who has a specific skill set and might need some mentoring, but the expectations would be high for that person.”

He called Hull “a unique town surrounded by water, with limited access,” calling economic development and growth a “long-term plan. If you put a good team together, a project can go from seed to stalk to bearing fruit when possible.”

Guerino, who lives in Vermont, said the distance between his hometown and Hull wouldn’t be a problem and wasn’t when he worked for Bourne. “I never missed a meeting, despite the long commute. I would get a place down here and go home on weekends. It’s not perfect, but it works for my wife and me. You would never need wonder where Guerino is! You would get an awful lot of hours from me -- I would be the first one in town hall and the last one out as long as I could get in a swim once or twice a week and get my drumsticks out!”

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