Westfield Personnel Director Robert Bishop. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS FILE PHOTO)
WESTFIELD – On June 14, a joint committee consisting of members of the Public Works and Water Commissions interviewed three candidates for the position of director of Public Works.
Personnel Director Robert Bishop, who asked the same questions of all the candidates during the interview, said the committee will now work to consolidate their choices on selecting a candidate.
The candidates interviewed were Jon Hume, PE, assistant DPW director in the town of Saugus, Robert Tober, DPW director in Adams, and Kelvin Ridgley, former DPW director in Baker, LA, currently with All South Consulting Engineers.
The candidates were first asked to introduce themselves. Hume said he had received his master’s in civil engineering from Northeast University, and has worked in Massachusetts for 25 years, currently for the town of Saugus. He said he plans the daily work activities for a lot of the same departments as in Westfield, including parks & recreation, water and sewer, engineering and stormwater. He said he also has experience in presenting and developing budgets and talking to city councilors and DPW boards, and feels comfortable in doing so.
Asked in a follow up question why he moved from consulting work to the town of Saugus, he said he loves “working with people and answering their questions. I have worked with many municipal DPW directors, and I really love working and helping people as much as I can. That’s why I transitioned from engineering to the municipal side.”
Tober said he started his career in public service with the town of Holliston, where he was the public facilities supervisor involved in managing parks, trees, highway, and property management. Currently, he is the DPW director in Adams. He said he also worked in construction for over 20 years, and had his own landscape and construction business. He has a master’s in business and several professional licenses.
Ridgley said as the DPW director for Baker, Louisiana, he enjoyed working with the community and satisfying them, “making sure the individuals that live in the community feel safe whenever you make a promise to them.”
Asked why he moved to his current job with All South Consulting Engineers, Ridgley said while working in Baker, he was offered the opportunity to work with public works departments throughout the state. He said he thought it was a great idea, but misses doing the field work. “I miss that interaction, fighting those fights every day. You guys know there’s a new fight every day, and I don’t have that with All South,” he said.
Asked about experience with inclement weather and snow, Ridgley said, “No snow, but battle-tested when it comes to hurricanes, tornados and inclement weather. Nothing beats a lesson like a hard lesson.” Asked how he would deal with snow removal, he said he would be out in the trenches with the guys.
Ridgley said he played college football in Chicago for four years with the Rockford River Rafters and trained six months with the Chicago Bears, so he has experienced snow.
On the snow question, Tober said he used to have snow plowing contracts in his own business, and in Holliston ran the facilities and took care of the sidewalks. He said one winter, he acted as interim highway superintendent there. “I have a lot of experience with snow plowing operations,” he said.
Hume said he is from Maine, and used to plow for his father’s contractor operation. In the town of Saugus, he led all of the snow meetings and worked with highway foremen on when to plow. He said when he started, he drove all the plow routes, which he would do if he came to Westfield. “I have a lot of experience with snow and ice,” Hume said.
The candidates were asked in which area they have the least experience, and how they would remedy that. Tober said probably with water. He said in Adams he works closely with water superintendent John Barrett, who he said has a lot of experience in water and maintenance. As far as remedying this area, he said he would commit to getting a wastewater license.
Hume said his least experience is in forestry and parks & recreation. “My career has been focused on water, wastewater and highway. To fix that, I would take whatever classes that are out there to further learn those departments to enhance my knowledge. I’ve been learning my entire career. I always think that’s important,” he said.
As a follow up, Hume was asked whether he holds any certifications and/or licenses to operate water or wastewater. He said he is currently taking the class for water certification, and just needs to take the test. He said as an engineer, he has a lot of experience designing both water and wastewater and dealing with PFAS issues. “I’ve been to your plants before, too,” Hume said.
Ridgley also said his area of least expertise was in parks & recreation, which he said he would remedy by getting out in the field. “I would set aside time to go out there with those guys and see first hand how they do things. I would go out and communicate with individuals working in the department,” he said.
Asked whether Baker had municipal water and sewer, Ridgley said they don’t treat their own sewer, but pump it to nearby cities for treatment. He said they have water towers, and outsourced their water as qualifications were changing.
All of the candidates said they had experience working with personnel and budgets and making presentations to boards and commissions.
Ridgley said for a time in Baker, which has a mayor, assistant mayor and council, he acted as assistant mayor due to a retirement. He said the city had 80 employees and four supervisors that reported to him. For the budgets, they held weekly meetings, “to make sure everybody is on the same page when it comes to spending patterns.” He said he made presentations to the council, and also appeared on the mayor’s weekly television show.
Ridgley said when he took over the department in the city of Baker, ”morale was really low. Nobody pats these guys on the back, tells them they are doing a good job, something they hadn’t heard in years. With that done, they would do anything I asked them to do, because they knew I would go to bat for them.”
Hume said he has a lot of experience making budgets and making sure they are approved. He said he developed the budget for the town of Saugus, and has 20 years of experience working on developing budgets for other municipal projects.
Hume said his management style is to talk face to face, meeting personally with employees and helping them to come up with a plan for their career goals, with annual reviews based on those goals. “People want to be proud of something, (then) they’ll run with it, and they’ll want to bring people to work for Westfield,” he said.
Asked how large the department is in Saugus, Hume said 23 people. He said he plans daily activities for most of them and for the foremen, who he meets with daily. “Communication is key,” he said.
Tober said he has 23 team members and seven working foremen that report directly to him. He said they hold weekly meetings, often in the field. “The secret to harmony is to engage with everybody. Every department has something to say,” he said.
Tober also emphasized training, such as on confined spaces and chainsaws, which are done on a regular basis. “Meeting with them, going into the field, watching them as they are doing work, finding out their perspectives on things; I do that with as many of my teammates as I possibly can. Engagement is the key,” Tober said.
Each candidate was then asked why they should be hired as Westfield’s DPW director.
Hume said he has 25 years experience working in Massachusetts. “I am a professional engineer, and have experience working on every single project you’re looking for. I also have a master’s degree in civil engineering and a bachelor’s, and I know what it takes to have a project in on time and under budget,” he said, adding, “I’m comfortable dealing with DPW boards, city councils, public meetings – been doing this my entire working career.”
Tober said he has 25 years of technical experience. “I’m a people person, [strong on] interpersonal relationships.” He said as a director, there are two main functions – support the team, and provide direction. “If your team fails it’s because I haven’t supported them. I’m cooperative, innovative and cohesive, and that’s what I shoot for in a company. The technical aspect is all there, but that’s at the forefront,” Tober said.
Ridgley said outside of everything on his resume — which he said everyone being interviewed would have had the same experience – “you’re getting a proven leader. I’m a four-year college football guy. In management, competitive . . . I love to win. You’re getting an overly competitive guy willing to go the extra mile to reach goals and success,” Ridgley said.
A recording of the interviews is posted on Westfield’s YouTube channel at Westfield Community Programming.
“This has been an interesting and thorough process with the joint committee working to find the best candidate for the city,” Bishop said, adding, “Optimistically, we would like to have someone in place on or just after the start of the new fiscal year.”
