By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — As reported in yesterday’s Daily Item, on Monday night, the Town Council named the seven members of the screening committee that will help determine the short list of candidates to be the next Town Administrator.
But there’s a problem. It has been pointed out, and the Item has confirmed, that there was a mistake in the counting as Town Councilors were announcing their choices from among the 15-20 applicants who had volunteered to serve on the screening committee.
As voted Monday night, the screening committee will include School Superintendent Doug Lyons, Assistant Town Administrator/Chief Financial Officer Kevin Gill, Finance Committee member Dan Sherman, DPW Business Manager Ann Waitt, former selectman Eugene Sullivan, Environmental Sustainability Chair Tiana Veldwisch and Emily Rivera, a human resources professional.
It was when it came time for selecting the three members of the public to serve on the screening committee that things got a little chaotic.
Town Council Chair Mehreen Butt asked each member to list their top five picks. Vice chairman Jonathan Chines volunteered to keep a tally as each member named their five choices.
That process resulted in Environmental Sustainability Chair Tiana Veldwisch of West Water Street and Emily Rivera of Summer Street, a human resources professional, receiving five votes each. The board agreed that Veldwisch and Rivera would be appointed to the screening committee, leaving one final slot to be filled.
The Council decided to do one more round of voting among Laura Felch of Elm Street, who received four votes, and the applicants who had gotten three votes in the initial round: Gene Sullivan, Julie Smith-Galvin and Maureen Marquis.
Except there was an error. A review of the video reveals that Christoper Tarr also received three votes, but Chines had erroneously counted only two votes for Tarr. So, Tarr was left out of the final round of voting. Sullivan prevailed and was named to that final slot.
Contacted this morning by the Item, Town Council Chair Mehreen Butt said that she was not aware of the error but would look into it further.