Tolland to hold meet-and-greet for town manager finalists

Ben Crnic, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

May 17—TOLLAND — The town will hold a community meet-and-greet event from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green Ext., to give residents a chance to talk with the four finalists for the town manager position.

The position has been open since former Town Manager Michael Rosen resigned in August after two years on the job. Former Finance Director Lisa Hancock has served as interim town manager since his resignation.

Of the four finalists, two live in Connecticut while the others are from Kentucky and Minnesota. The finalists include:

Brian Foley: Served as the Assistant to the Commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection since 2019. He also has served as spokesman for the state police and served the city of Hartford Police Department as deputy chief and commander of its major crimes division.

David Johnston: Has over 25 years of experience in city management and served as city manager in Covington, Kentucky, from 2017-2021, and Maple Valley, Washington, from 2009-2016.

Shaun Gately: Served as Vernon economic development director since 2011, in addition to being interim director of planning from 2013-2015, and 2018-2020.

Willie Morales: Served as city administrator for Appleton, Minnesota, since 2019 and served as town administrator of Northfield, Massachusetts, from 2017-2018, and for the towns of Monterey and Sandisfield, in western Massachusetts, from 2016-2017.

Town Council Chairman Steven Jones said today that the council will meet with the finalists Thursday and make its final selection in executive session later that night. The town will then begin negotiations with the finalist.

Jones said the council has "a lot of consensus on these candidates" and that they have many impressive skills that could be a good fit for Tolland.

He said the candidates would not be required to live in town.

Texas-based Strategic Government Resources is conducting the recruiting effort, the same firm used when Rosen was hired in 2019. Because the town is a returning client, the cost is a reduced rate of $21,900.

Hancock said in February that she had applied for the town manager position and that if she did not get the position she would return to being the finance director.

Ben covers Coventry and Tolland for the Journal Inquirer.