Florino named new town head
Published on July 14th, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen appointed Town Accountant Ron Florino as Stoneham's newest Town Administrator in a 4-1 vote taken Tuesday night.
And while the naming of Florino as Town Administrator David Berry's replacement comes with much fanfare - as Town Hall employees lined up to congratulate the Town Accountant throughout the day on Tuesday - some residents and Selectmen resisted the appointment based on what they considered to be a detour from the outlined process.
During last Thursday's Selectmen meeting, Florino was named interim Town Administrator after only one of the four candidates chosen by the Selectmen for the position showed up for a public interview. While that candidate was considered by the board for the position, the Selectmen had several reservations with the Holbrook resident, including his limited experience in a similar position and his refusal to relocate closer to Stoneham's borders.
"My hesitancy with Mr. Warren is that he's coming from a town with a $26 million budget and that he's also an executive secretary without the authority to make decisions [without the Selectmen]. I think he'd get into a situation similar to what Mr. Berry was in where he's from a small town and doesn't know what he's getting into," remarked Selectman Bob Sweeney, who motioned to name Florino the acting Town Administrator.
But while the Selectmen decided last Thursday to name an interim Town Administrator, they decided to wait until their August 2 meeting - when then absent Selectman Tony Kennedy could offer his input - to outline what the procedure would be for hiring a permanent TA.
However, the Selectmen altered their plan of action after accepting an addendum Tuesday night that would discuss hiring Florino as permanent TA. Immediately questioning the move, Stoneham resident David Gardner felt that it would be more appropriate to address the issue on August 2.
"I think that right now in our town government process, you have to abide by what you say you're going to do. To do it tonight with no one knowing that it was going to go from a temporary position to a permanent position isn't right," argued Gardner.
Agreeing with Gardner, Kennedy also opposed the appointment because the board was changing it's outlined process.
"My concern has to do with process. My concern is when you advertise the position and change the rules without even seeing his resume or interviewing him to see what his qualifications are. The process has not been maintained and with a $55 million budget and a 22,000 person population, the least we can do is interview him," Kennedy opined, who stuck to his guns by being the lone Selectman to vote against the appointment.
While Selectman John DePinto agreed with Kennedy, he remarked that this time around the process had failed, forcing the town to either appoint their own candidate or waste more time by re-advertising the position - which drew 50 resumes the first time around.
"The process this time around didn't work out for whatever reasons. Of the four people who were asked to be interviewed, only one showed up. So process is important but this time it just didn't work. That's why I would vote for Ron to be the next Town Administrator," DePinto remarked.
Also jumping to Florino's defense, Town Clerk John Hanright claimed the resistance to the appointment floored him.
"I could not believe all the talk that has come up with one of the most qualified people in this town. Let me tell you, I've worked with some classy people in my time, but no one's classier than Ron Florino. I was Chairman of the TA Screening Committee and I said to myself, 'this is a waste of time because the guy who should have the position is sitting right across from me,'" Hanright said.
Claiming that he would respect whatever the Selectmen voted on, Florino admitted that he didn't want the job when the position first became vacant. However, after much thinking, the 20-year-veteran of Town Hall had a change of heart.
"I was raised in this town and I'm a product of the Stoneham school system. And my heart and roots are here. I just felt that I'd like to give back to the community and do what I can to keep this a top-notch town," said Florino in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
"As the Town Accountant, there was only so much I could get done and that was all behind the scenes for me. Watching the whole Selectmen process, I just felt that I know the town and I know what the town needs more than anyone. I didn't want to take a chance that those things wouldn't get done again," Florino added.
With his experience centered directly on the town's finances, Florino believes he already has an advantage that many former Town Administrators lacked when first coming on board.
"I do have an advantage because I have the financial experience and that's half the battle in these financial times. So that will really give me the opportunity to catch up on other things. But I'm not going to jump in and try to change things all at once. It's going to take some time for me to chip away at some of the problems," the rookie Town Administrator said.
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