By Beth David, Editor
At its meeting on 12/23/24, the Fairhaven Select Board chose George G. Samia, a former Town Administrator and Town Accountant, to be the Interim Town Administrator until a permanent TA can be chosen.
The board had expected to interview three candidates that night, but Leilani Dalpe, the Assistant TA in Weymouth, dropped out. Left standing were Mr. Samia and Gregory M. Hanley, who has been County Commissioner of Plymouth since 2013, and has served as a TA and Interim Town Manager.
All five board members asked at least two questions of both candidates. It was Mr. Samia’s background in finance and his experience having worked in Fairhaven on a consultant basis that tipped the votes in his favor.
All five board members noted Mr. Samia’s strength with finances and creating a budget as his strong points. They also noted that Mr. Hanley had some great ideas for reeling in the budget.
In the end, though, the board voted 4-1 to choose Mr. Samia, noting that the town’s main concern is budget season and a budget that is going to be extremely difficult to balance.
SB member Andrew Romano cited a number of reasons he preferred Mr. Hanley, including his ideas for saving money. Mr. Romano also said they could still use Mr. Samia as a consultant.
Mr. Romano noted that Mr. Samia used “outdated” terms, such as when he said unless you have a turban on your head, you cannot know what will happen.
Other board members agreed that Mr. Hanley’s ideas were very good and looked to the future, however, the town needed to get through this very difficult budget season, which is an immediate challenge.
Mr. Samia also made it clear he had no intentions of applying for the permanent TA position.
Mr. Hanley was unclear about that during his interview, but stated in the meeting, after the choice was made, that he did intend to apply for the permanent TA position in Fairhaven.
At its meeting on 12/30, the board announced they had come to a financial agreement with Mr. Samia and he would be in the office on 1/6.
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