CCB MEDIA PHOTOS
Mashpee Selectmen interview town manager candidate Dennis Luttrell last night.
MASHPEE – Mashpee Selectmen talked about generalities and specifics when they interviewed two candidates for town manager last night. The final three candidates will be interviewed tonight.
Selectmen wanted to know about problem-solving skills and they wanted to know about how the candidates handle capital projects in their current positions.
They asked the candidates if they had an “open door policy” in their office and both said they did. They asked about delegating projects and how they handle bad news.
Selectmen spent about 45 minutes interviewing each of the candidates, Michael Embury, the town manager in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and Dennis Luttrell, the former Somerset Town Administrator.
One of the candidates being considered for the post of Mashpee town manager is Michael Embury, who is currently town manager in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Tonight they will interview Peter Johnston-Staub, who is Yarmouth Assistant Town Administrator and Director of Community Services; Ronald San Angelo, who is town administrator in Hanson; and Mashpee Police Chief Rodney Collins.
Selectmen asked Embury in particular about his experience shepherding through wastewater initiatives, since he has a sewering project underway in North Kingstown. They wanted to know whether he has served as “the face” of the project or whether he has let others lead the way. Embury explained that in some cases he has served as the lead in the project but that he works closely with the town’s consultants and the town engineer and department of public works.
In addition to serving as town administrator in Somerset from 2008 to January of this year, Dennis Luttrell has served as town administrator for the towns of Sherborn and of Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard. He also worked as the executive director of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee, a nonprofit that dealt with watershed management.
Dennis Luttrell is interviewed by Mashpee selectmen for the post of town manager.
Selectmen asked both candidates whether they would be open to attending community events outside of work hours and participating in other aspects of the community. Both said they would.
They asked both candidates if they would be comfortable working with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on a government to government basis and both candidates said they would.
Selectmen asked Luttrell why he wanted to be the Mashpee town manager. “It’s a beautiful community. I think it’s a good match,” he said.
Interviews for the three remaining candidates begin this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Mashpee Town Hall.
