BOB CURTIN
Assistant Town Administrator
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — It’s the end of an era at Town Hall.
Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin is retiring this week after working for the town for the past 16 years. During that time, Curtin has received praise from colleagues and residents for his hard working nature, knowledge about Lynnfield and U.S. history and last, but certainly not least, his dry sense of humor.
“Retiring is the hardest thing I’ve had to do, as there is all kinds of things I keep in my head that I have picked up over the 16 years I’ve worked here, plus my 25 years of covering Lynnfield as a newspaper reporter and editor that I haven’t had the time to commit to paper,” said Curtin. “Every day I try to work on wrapping things up, something new comes up. Because it’s been so busy, I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet.”
After graduating from Harvard University, Curtin began his professional career working as a reporter and an editor at a newspaper in town for almost 25 years.
“I can say with confidence that no one has attended more Lynnfield municipal meetings over the past 40 years than I have,” said Curtin about his journalism and municipal government career.
Former Town Administrator Bill Gustus hired Curtin to serve as the assistant to administration in 2009.
“When I told my son, who was 10, about my new title, he responded: ‘I’m just going to keep telling people you’re an editor,’” said Curtin. “Town Administrator Rob Dolan changed my title, for which I am very grateful. Assistant town administrator sounds much better.”
While Curtin said he had “no intention of staying in Lynnfield when I started covering the town as a news reporter,” he acknowledged that his plans changed.
“The plan was to move on to a bigger paper and community after a couple of years,” said Curtin. “But the quality of the people I met – the board and committee members, the department heads, the rank-and-file workers in the departments was and is of such high quality that I just never wanted to leave.”
Curtin had a number of responsibilities while serving as assistant town administrator.
“I do all the stuff that government does that is too boring to write in the newspaper,” said Curtin. “I organize the Select Board meetings and Town Meeting. I draft the warrant and the motions. I handle insurance claims and personnel matters such as being on the collective bargaining team. I handle the website and social media. I handle all sorts of licensing. And to the extent this office is involved in just about every significant issue that goes on in town, I am involved as well. It’s hard to define. A lot of it is getting out information to people, and getting people who work here to work together.”
When asked to talk about some of his accomplishments as assistant town administrator, Curtin said it was “a humbling question because what I do alone is fairly routine.”
“And independently, I have little authority to do anything,” said Curtin. “I’d like to think that I’ve contributed by offering counsel and technical advice on how to get certain things done. There are some of examples of the town actually doing some significant things that I suggested and counseled, but I think for once it’s better that I choose reticence. Good advisors don’t seek public credit; it’s enough that I can tell my wife.”
Curtin said the most enjoyable aspect of working for the town has been “the people.”
“Forty years is a lot of time,” said Curtin. “I’m on my third generation of working with some families in town.”
Curtin said that he thoroughly enjoyed working board and committee members, town employees and residents.
“The people who serve are doing so not out of any sense of ambition, but to do the right thing,” said Curtin. “Even when they may disagree with you or each other, politics is not a consideration.”
While Curtin officially retired this week, he is going to “keep working on a part-time basis here until my successor is named and to help with specific tasks and the transition.”
“I really need to start taking better care of myself, so I’m going to look for a job in the fall with very fixed hours,” said Curtin. “Ideally, I’d like to work part-time teaching.”
Curtin also offered some words of wisdom to his successor.
“My fortress of stacks of paper is legendary, so I’d say – no matter what else you’re doing, keep up with the filing,” said Curtin. “My secret is that everything that’s in those stacks of paper is scanned into the computer. I’d also say that it’s important to get familiar with the Charter, bylaws and state law regarding much of what we do because that’s important. And on a personal level, I’d say it’s important to strike some kind of work-life balance, because you’ll never really ‘catch up.’ There’s always something that needs to be addressed.”
Curtin said he will miss Lynnfield very much.
“I have developed a great affection for the people I have worked with over the years, and I’ve learned a lot from them,” said Curtin. “I’ve covered or worked for 21 Select Board members. I’ve either covered or worked with every town administrator since the position was created, as executive assistant, in 1973. And I’m probably the only person left in town government who can tell you the one person mentioned by name in the Town Charter.”