PLAISTOW — Town Manager Sean Fitzgerald summed up his first month on the job in five words: "Baptism by fire and ice."
Since Thanksgiving week, Fitzgerald has helped steer town government through an ice storm of historic proportions and three snowstorms, at the same time meeting a short deadline to fine-tune the municipal government budget.
Asked how he likes the job so far, Fitzgerald says he relishes it.
"Having the disaster associated with the ice storm made things much more challenging," he said Friday.
But Fitzgerald has past experience managing an emergency. As chief of staff in the Peabody, Mass., mayor's office for seven years, he helped that city through two federally declared emergencies.
The top priority is safety, he said. This ice storm was a "very dangerous, very difficult storm," because it posed so many dangers to residents and the work crews.
Talks with Unitil, the town's utility provider, will soon focus on the company's response to the disaster. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald cautioned against being "too judgmental" about the company's performance.
"We still do not really understand the magnitude of this storm," he said.
To date, for example, highway crews have removed 20 tons of debris from trees and falling branches in the roadways, but trees are still being cut down because of damage from the ice storm. One majestic tree outside Town Hall was slated for an ax on Friday afternoon.
Although the picture around Town Hall will be changed forever because of the storm, Fitzgerald has seen the community's capacity to work together to survive a difficult time.
"I think we made it," he said. "This is where you see your community come together. I saw that as the new guy in town in such a powerful way, it inspired me."
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