Tolland town manager job candidates include former Hartford cop, Vernon economic development director
Tolland’s search for a new Town Manager has been narrowed to four candidates, and each one got to speak with residents, at a recent meet-and-greet event .
Michael Rosen resigned the position last summer. Since then, Lisa Hancock, the town’s finance director, has been serving as interim town manager. Strategic Government Resources (SGR), a Texas-based firm that was also used in the search that resulted in Rosen’s hiring, has been aiding in the search.
SGR Executive Vice-president Doug Thomas said the firm worked with the Town Council, town staff, and residents to create a position profile brochure, which described the town, the job, and the expected challenges over the next three-to-five years. A national recruitment yielded 17 candidates from 10 states. Additional questionnaires and pre-recorded interview questions narrowed the field to four.
Brian Foley is a Tolland native with an extensive career in law enforcement, including as commander of the Harford Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and in homicide/major crimes.
Foley said his priorities would include helping Tolland with the crumbling foundation issue and the salt in the wells, as well as lowering the budget and prioritizing children’s mental health.
“A little pet project I’d like to see is the success of the [Route] 195 corridor going through the center of town,” Foley said. “I’m ready to come home. I’m ready to stay here for the rest of my life.”
David Johnston, from Kentucky, was most recently the city manager of Covington, and has 25 years of municipal management including town manager of Westfield, Indiana, and village administrator of Coal City, Illinois. He said that having managed fast-growing suburbs has been challenging, but rewarding, as he has seen “interesting tension between interests in the community.”
“Public service is dealing with people, like yourselves, with different ideas and different opinions of how things are going,” Johnston said. “We have to create and manage the forum where all are heard. That’s what democracy is all about.”
Shaun Gately has served the town of Vernon for the last 11 years, most recently as economic development director since 2011.
“I understand what it takes to push development forward,” Gately said. “I understand how difficult it is. I want to assure everyone that it’s nothing that will happen quickly. It is something that is going to take time and commitment to do and to establish. Things aren’t going to change overnight, no matter who gets in, and it’s going to take community effort to work toward those shared goals and common ground.”
Willie Morales has served as city administrator for Appleton, Minnesota since 2019, and was previously town administrator for Northfield, Massachusetts as well as a shared town manager for Monterey and Sandisfield, Massachusetts. He said he likes the similarities between Tolland and those rural communities in Berkshire County, and that he also intends to work hard for Tolland residents, regardless of whether they agree with him or not.
“We’re at a time in our nation where we don’t agree on everything,” he said. “You may not agree with me, but I’ll work for you. I’ll work really hard. Right now, I manage a city that didn’t have a city manager for eight years, and I had to build capacity from the ground up. There were a number of people who didn’t agree with me. I still got them over $8 million in grants.”
After the candidates spoke, residents were able to informally chat with them, ask questions, and discuss issues.
Thomas said the candidates were scheduled to go through longer interviews with the Town Council on May 19, and the council will deliberate.
“Most of the time, they will land on a candidate, or two candidates they want to go to the next step with,” Thomas said, adding that contract negotiations with the top choice would then take “about a week.” A decision could be announced as early as a week after it is made, or possibly longer.
For more information, visit www.tolland.org.
