WINDHAM — The chairman of the Board of Selectmen is among 31 candidates to head the Planning Department as the town's new community development director.
Town Administrator Dave Sullivan and selectmen — minus Chairman Galen Stearns — are interviewing candidates for the post this week. They plan to whittle the field to three or four people for second interviews, likely to be held the week of July 6, Sullivan said.
Stearns is a candidate for the position and "has been excluded from all discussions relative to this matter and will, therefore, not be party to any pending interviews as a member of the Board and will not participate in any facet of the candidate selection process," a board statement reads.
Stearns said in an interview that numerous people in town suggested he apply for the position.
Earlier this year, following the first advertising of the opening, three people were offered the job and turned it down. The board decided to re-advertise rather than dig deeper into the stack of resumes.
The director's job will include implementing a long-term vision for the town and attracting economic development, selectmen said earlier.
Stearns filed his resume for the position more than two weeks ago. He accepted early retirement from Osram Sylvania in April, where he worked in quality assurance and as a manager.
Stearns said he has spent many years reaching out to the public and interacting with state agencies while he was on town panels, experience which he says qualify him as a candidate for the director's post.
If selected as the director, Stearns would resign his selectman's post. It would then be up to the board to appoint a replacement until March, when the remaining year on Stearns' term would be open for election.
The director's job pays between $70,000 and $85,000 a year, depending on experience.
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