WILBRAHAM – A week after missing out on one town administrator position in Walpole, Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik is now a finalist for another position, this time much closer to home.
Knapik, who announced at the start of the year that he will not be seeking another term this fall, was selected as one of the top candidates for the town administrator position for Wilbraham last night.
Unlike the race for the Walpole position, where he finished second out of three candidates by a narrow 3-2 vote, to get this job, Knapik will have to edge out four other finalists from both near – East Longmeadow Town Administrator Nick Breault and former West Springfield Mayor and current Town Administrator for the town of Becket Edward Gibson – and far – Kevin Sutherland, chief of staff of Ithaca, New York, and Dana Reed, former town administrator in the vacation town of Bar Harbor, Maine and current interim town manager in Tremont, Maine.
Knapik said this morning that the town’s Board of Selectmen whittled a list of 40 applicants down to 10 and then down to five last night and that the position’s salary is negotiable, but will fall within the $85,000 to $118,000 range.
As to who he feels has the inside track for the position, Knapik said that all five candidates would be fine selections.
“I know Gibson has been around a while and the town administrator in East Longmeadow, too, as well as the two out-of-towners,” he said. “Like anything else, the decision is going to come down to who has the best plan and strategy for dealing with capital issues and long-term financial issues that all cities and towns have.”
Unlike the Walpole position, which would’ve required him to move within 15 miles of the Boston suburb, Knapik said that he didn’t see any mandate in the town’s charter stating that he would have to move his family to Wilbraham if he were to be selected for the position.
He added that the selectmen are looking to schedule meet-and-greet sessions for all five finalists at the Wilbraham Public Library for residents to come by and ask their own questions of the candidates.
As to when he will be vetted for his final interview, Knapik said he’s still waiting to hear from the Board of Selectmen but that he’s guessing each interview will completed in one night and will last about a half an hour.
As to what his pitch will be for the selectmen, Knapik said he will stress creativity in dealing with Wilbraham’s finances.
“Continuing to come to the table with old fashioned solutions to problems isn’t going to work anymore,” he said, referencing recent quotes from Gov. Charlie Baker about the Commonwealth’s own financial woes. “State spending is growing at 7.6 percent, with revenue growing only 4 percent. We can’t do that anymore because we have a very finite amount of money available.”
