Brookline Names Three Finalists for Town Administrator, None of Whom Appear to Have Substantial Municipal Finance Experience
Select Board will conduct public interviews on Tuesday, July 12.
The Town of Brookline has announced three finalists to become the new Town Administrator effective upon the retirement of current Administrator Mel Kleckner.
Brookline’s description of the position includes the following:
Despite the major responsibility the Town Administrator appears to have for formulating Brookline’s total budget of more than $350 million and the complicating impacts of the COVID pandemic, all of the three finalists appear to be attorneys, and none of the three finalists appear to have substantial professional experience managing municipal financial affairs.
A recent Brookline budget presentation included the following:
The Town released an email about the three finalists as follows:
BROOKLINE – The Select Board announces that the Town Administrator Screening Committee has identified three finalists in the search for Brookline's next Town Administrator.
The three finalists are Charles Carey, who previously served in numerous roles in New York City government, Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert, who previously served as Brookline's Town Counsel, and George Ramirez, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Lawrence Partnership.
The Select Board will conduct public interviews with each finalist, which will include a broad range of topics and scenario-based questions Tuesday, July 12.
The finalists for the position were identified following an extensive search led by Community Paradigm Associates in close collaboration with the screening committee. As part of that effort, Community Paradigm worked closely with members of the committee to review materials submitted by the applicants, consider and deliberate over the selection of candidates for initial interviews and develop interview questions and take part in the interview process.
The search was a nationwide effort and placed an emphasis on soliciting applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and skillsets. The three individuals put forward for consideration by the Select Board were chosen from among 13 total applicants for the position, which will be vacated by outgoing Town Administrator Mel Kleckner in September.
Charles Carey
Charles Carey began serving as a Managing Consultant with Guidehouse, LLP in its State and Local Government Practice in April of this year upon relocating to the Boston area. He previously served in a variety of roles in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations.
Most positions were related to legal services, but he did serve as Acting Director from August 2021 through February 2022. He also served as Special Counsel to the NYC Health and Hospitals. Mr. Carey previously held positions in private practice with a firm in New York, as a Law Clerk in a Federal District Court and in the NYC Law Department. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.F.A from Warren Wilson College and a B. A from Columbia University.
Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert has served as a Managing Partner with the Law Office of Robert L. Allen. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, she worked for the Town of Brookline in the Office of Town Counsel for sixteen years, including eight years as Town Counsel. She's also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brookline Community Foundation and continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the Brookline Municipal Credit Union.
Additionally, Gilbert served as an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University in the Moakley Center graduate program for Local Government Leadership and Management. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School and a bachelor's degree from Boston College.
Since 2021, George Ramirez has served as the Executive Director of the Lawrence Partnership, an economic development and community engagement organization in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He previously served as the Vice President of Operations of the National Aviation Academy in Concord, MassDevelopment Executive Vice President of Operations and de facto Town Administrator for the town of Devens. He's also served as General Counsel of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. Ramirez operated his own law office from 2001-2007 and 2015-2018. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School and a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
The finalists were selected by the Town Administrator Screening Committee:
Gerald Alston Case Looms Over Selection Process
In response to an emailed inquiry from The Brookline Times asking about the candidates’ apparent lack of municipal finance experience as well as the relevance of Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert’s historical involvement with the legal case of former Brookline firefighter Gerald Alston, Screening Panel Chair Heather Hamilton, who is also Chair of the Select Board, indicated that many of these issues were discussed in executive session, the contents of which the panel is, according to Hamilton, not at liberty to disclose.
The Alston case began as a result of Gerald Alston’s emotional response to hearing a colleague use the n-word in 2010, leading to a series of events that culminated with the Select Board firing Alston in 2016.
According to Dopazo Gilbert’s LinkedIn profile, she was Brookline’s Town Counsel from 2005-2013.
The Town of Brookline eventually settled state and federal legal cases with Alston for $11 million in the fall of 2021.
Other Towns Appear to Emphasize Finance Expertise for Role
When the Town of Wellfleet selected three finalists for its new Town Administrator, they included a director of Provincetown’s department of public works; the business administrator for the Town of Reading; and a former Marblehead Town Administrator.
When the Town of Reading selected three finalists for its new Town Administrator, they included Belmont’s Town Administrator, Chelsea’s public works commissioner, and the former city manager of Bothell, WA.
Town’s Consultant Also Appears to Emphasize Finance Expertise for Other Clients
Brookline is using consulting firm Community Paradigm Associates to assist with the hiring process.
Community Paradigm lists the position of Boxborough, MA Town Administrator on its website, including the following:
The firm also lists the position of Halifax, MA Town Administrator on its website, including the following:
Brookline Administrator Screening Panel Chair Hamilton, while declining to provide the Brookline finalists’ resumes, indicated that the candidates might address questions about their careers and qualifications in the public interviews scheduled for Tuesday, July 12.
The following did not respond to an email offering an opportunity to comment on the selection process: Select Board Members Mike Sandman, John VanScoyoc; Miriam Aschkenasy; and Bernard Greene; Advisory Committee Chair Dennis Doughty; Attorney Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert; and Attorney Robert Allen, founder of RLAW P.C., where Dopazo Gilbert is currently employed.
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