By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board interviewed four finalists for the Town Administrator position at a meeting on 7/7/25: James Ryan, Lisa Green, Keith Hickey, and Joe Powers. Rick White of Groux-White Consulting advised the board to make a choice and an alternate, that way if contract negotiations fell through, they would be able to offer the position to the alternate without delay. The board chose Mr. Hickey as their first choice, and Ms. Green as their alternate.
Mr. Hickey is the Town Administrator in Kingston, Mass., and was the town manager in Winchendon, MA, Salem, MA, Merrimack, NH and Bedford, NH.
Ms. Green is an attorney who has served as the Town Administrator in Hanson, and Whitman Mass. She is currently the Interim TA in Auburn, according to online sources. She also served on the Selectboard in Whitman.
The board asked the same 10 questions of each candidate.
All five SB members had Mr. Hickey as their first or second choice, with four members choosing him first. Four members had Ms. Green as their second choice or tied for second.
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- Keith Hickey answers a question while being interviewed by the Fairhaven Select Board on 7/7/25 for the position of Town Administrator, and was chosen from a pool of four finalists. Photo by Beth David.
The board voted unanimously to offer Mr. Hickey the position. They voted 4-1 for Ms. Green to be the alternate, with SB member Natalie Green voting “no.”
SB member Andrew Romano said he used a ranking system that fellow board member Natalie Mello had given him.
“I was very impressed with all four so I loved having this…kind of unbiased ranking system to go by,” said Mr. Romano, adding they were all only about two points apart.
He said he chose Mr. Hickey because he showed a “very large array of skills and adaptability.”
SB Chairperson Charles Murphy said he was looking for a person who was “very clear on the budget process,” clear on communications. So he came up with Mr. Powers as his first choice, with Mr. Hickey and Ms. Green a tie for second.
SB member Andrew Saunders said his choices were Mr. Hickey and Mr. Ryan and left it at that. SB member Keith Silvia simply said he agreed with Mr. Romano.
Ms. Mello said Mr Hickey was her first choice, with Mr. Powers second.
She said Mr. Hickey stood out because his experience is “very impressive,” adding, “And he just seemed to hit all of the things I was looking for.”
After it seemed that Mr. Hickey was the one for sure, Mr. Romano said he was more apt to make a motion for Ms. Green because he felt she showed more flexibility and had more “out of the box statements.”
Ms. Mello, however, said she did not think Ms. Green showed flexibility and made her pitch for Mr. Powers.
In the end, Mr. Romano made the motion for Ms. Green to be the alternate; then the second vote was for Mr. Hickey.
The meeting is available at FairhavenTV.com
The board also voted to authorize Mr. Murphy and Mr. Saunders to negotiate contract details with Mr. Hickey.
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