Bellingham Board's Decision On Powers Still Up In The Air

 HARWICH – The Bellingham Select Board was divided Tuesday night on whether to appoint Harwich Town Administrator Joseph Powers or former Northborough Town Administrator John Coderre as their new administrator.

Powers and Coderre were interviewed by the select board for an hour each. A third candidate, Lancaster Town Administrator Kate Hodges, was also scheduled to be interviewed but withdrew her name. A fourth finalist had previously withdrawn.

The select board spent more than an hour after the interviews discussing how to move forward with selecting a replacement for 30-year administrator Denis Fraine. There was much back and forth between board members over whether to appoint Powers or Coderre, or seek to interview two more candidates from the original 25 applicants, of which six were interviewed by the search committee for the position. 

In the end, the board voted to conduct thorough background searches on Powers and Coderre with the understanding that, depending upon the results, the position would be offered to one of the two finalists. Select Board member Don Martinis, who crafted the motion, said a deep background check should include interviewing members of select boards and department heads who were not listed as a reference by the candidates.

Getting to that point in the meeting took some time. The board had a lengthy discussion, which included the search committee, on whether to add two additional finalists and set up interviews. But some board members were concerned further delay could mean one or two of the finalists drops out. All five board members referred to Powers and Coderre as “excellent candidates” who could step right into the position without skipping a beat.

Select Board Chair Sahan Sahin offered a motion to add two additional candidates as finalists, but the motion lost 3-2.

Select Board member Michael Hennessy offered a motion to enter into discussions with Powers for the position. Hennessy said the selling point on Powers was “that he was going to become part of the community.” That motion did not receive a second. 

 Martinis presented a motion to begin discussions with Coderre for the position. That motion did not get off the ground, either.

Coderre had served as town administrator in Northborough for 14 years, but left to take the town manager’s position in Foxborough, which he left after three months. Martinis said the town is facing economic development and land use issues that Northborough already went through under Coderre.

 “He lived, worked and breathed it. He’s stronger. He covers more of the checked boxes,” Martinis said of Coderre.

 Powers opened his remarks by saying he was “a self-avowed government geek.” Martinis asked why Powers wanted to leave Harwich.

 “It’s not so much that I want to leave Harwich,” Powers said. “I’ve already mentioned relocating. I have a retirement asset in Harwich and I want to retain that for as long as I can, because when retirement comes, if so blessed, I’m going to be going to the Mariners games, Cranberry Valley and Captain’s Course playing golf.

“I’m here tonight because Bellingham offers an opportunity for me, on a personal level, of where my personal life is going over the next 10 to 12 years, I am at an age, family situation, maturing family members, and aging family members are off Cape. So I’m looking for my next exciting opportunity. I won’t hold back that I am excited about the opportunity to come back to Norfolk County and be in Bellingham. For me it’s a great opportunity both personally and professionally whereby I’m ready for the next step.” 

What would select board members say collectively if this board picked up the phone and called Harwich members, Martinis inquired.

“I can tell you what they’ve already said: ‘Please don’t go,’” Powers said. “I would hope they would tell you that he is the governance, who is passionate about the work government provides. I think they will tell you Harwich is a tough place, it’s tougher when you live and work there. But I think overall they would say as a team we are undefeated in town meeting, which is something I promised, which is something they haven’t had before. I was a big part of that.”

Exactly how long it will take for Bellinham to conduct a thorough background check on the two candidates, or when a final decision will be made on the town administrator’s position, was not made clear Tuesday evening.