Marlborough Mayor-elect Dumais sees staff appointments, salary evaluation as key issues

MARLBOROUGH — Mayor-elect J. Christian Dumais would prefer to skip the formalities.

"People have been calling me 'Mr. Mayor,' but 'Mayor Christian' or just 'Christian' is fine," he said. "I enjoy my last name, but I like using my first name, I think it helps keep things less formal and more down-to-earth. I don't need that stuffiness, I want to be able to easily talk to anyone one on one."

Dumais has a lot more people reaching out to him these days. That happens when you become a city's first new mayor in 12 years, as Dumais will be when he succeeds the retiring Arthur Vigeant in January.

'He's willing to listen': Dumais defeats Perlman to become Marlborough's next mayor

"I've met with (Mayor Vigeant) twice, and you don't quite understand the magnitude of the position until you're in it," Dumais said. "I've been working hard, pounding the pavement for the last eight months campaigning, but I didn't realize the ripple effect the job has until I was elected. Just having so many people from life reach out, people from different communities. I just think of myself as a regular guy who wants to make a difference in the community, but there is a level of instant attention you now have."

Dumais is spending the time before his inauguration on Jan. 1 by balancing his role as the current Ward 3 city councilor with planning his transition to mayor. Robert Preciado was elected to succeed Dumais as the next Ward 3 city councilor.

"I still owe the responsibility to my constituents to in Ward 3," Dumais said. "I've been going to all the meetings and making myself informed on everything that is going on citywide. You've got to keep those relationships with the rest of the City Council, because you're going to be continuing to work with them, but on the other side of the aisle."

Building his mayoral staff

Dumais has hired Ryan Egan, who coordinated the election campaign, as chief of staff. Egan, who is a city councilor in Randolph, has experience working in city hall as executive secretary for Vigeant from April 2021 to June 2022.

"He's worked for the Mayor's Office before, so he knows how the system works and he's a city councilor and very well-connected with mayors and town administrators across the state," Dumais said of Egan. "He's a huge asset for not only my office but the city as a whole."

As mayor, one of Dumais' key responsibilities is appointing staff, and he said part of his first year will be spent filling vacancies and evaluating roles.

"Our current DPW head (Ted Scott) is an interim, we will look at that," Dumais said. "I'd love for him to stay on board but I believe there is a salary issue with that, we will look at that. We need to reevaluate a lot of positions and also streamline them. We need to look at their job titles, see what they are doing, and if their pay reflects that. I'm extremely excited to start going over that process."

A recent grant from the state's Executive Office for Administration and Finance has given the city $60,000 to evaluate its municipal salary structure, something Dumais said during his campaign was among his main goals. He has expressed concern that Marlborough is losing talented employees to other communities that are paying higher wages.

'Experience matters': Dumais says Marlborough must be more open to diverse populations

"We got a grant to look at our wages and salaries, so starting that process right away is something we can do," he said. "We are just trying to figure out what projects are being started right now and what will come to my desk once I'm (in office). We need to look at the salaries of our city employees and see if that is competitive."

Dumais said he has met with Vigeant several times to better prepare himself for the role he will take on.

"Mayor Vigeant has been very helpful so far, as well as his chief of staff, Trish (Bernard), who has been incredibly supportive with whatever I need," Dumais said. "The demand of the role is going to be big. Meeting with all of the department heads, the buck stops here, with the mayor. Every decision that you make comes back to you. If something fails in the city, you have to own it."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Dumais sees salaries, appointments as key tasks for Marlborough mayor