With little fanfare, the deadline for applications for the Chelsea City Manager position came and went on Tuesday night, March 31.
Officials at the Collins Center weren’t immediately available to reveal how many applications had been received, and there is a question whether or not that is public information anyhow. The names of those that have applied are certainly kept confidential – unless, of course, the applicants confirm their participation.
So far, only one applicant has chosen to disclose publicly an interest – that being former City Council President Paul Nowicki, now with the Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA).
The process will now begin in earnest and in secret. The recently chosen Screening Committee will begin regular meetings with former Lowell City Manager Bernie Lynch and the Collins Center to weed out the resumes. That process will be conducted in private, executive session meetings to protect the identity of the applicants. Once the Screening Committee decides upon four or five finalists, the process will return to the public eye.
The Screening Committee will recommend the finalists to the City Council.
The City Council will be charged with making the final decision.
City Council President Leo Robinson said he was happy with the way the process is playing out.
“The Collins Center will getting dates set to have the Screening Committee get together over the next week or two,” he said. “I think the process is going how it should be. It’s been a fair and open process. There’s nobody who has an advantage over anyone else. I know the makeup of the Screening Committee had a lot to do with one rumored candidate not gaining any sort of edge. I’ve said all along nobody has any sort of inside track in being City Manager.”
There is no set date for the Screening Committee to complete it’s work, but it has been assumed on the general timeline that by some time in May the finalists will be forwarded to the Council. It could, however, be sooner or later than that.