The Town Manager Search Committee (TMSC) has begun the process of narrowing down the applicants for the town’s first town manager. The finalists for the position will in Clinton for public meet and greets in December.

When the job posting for the position closed on Sept. 23, the town had received 45 applicants according to Strategic Government Resources (SGR), the firm hired by the town to assist with the search. The committee is now working on a list of about one dozen semifinal candidates to come up with up with a final list of three to five candidates.

“It’s like a football team—100 people show up and you can only keep 30,” said TMSC Chair and Selectman Phil Sengle (R).

Before a hire is made, the finalists will appear in Clinton for public meet and greets on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 2 and 3. A welcome breakfast is scheduled for Dec. 2 with the finalists and town stakeholders. The finalists will receive a tour of the town and will be interviewed by three different interview panels as well.

A public event to meet the candidates will be held on the night of the third. Sengle said in the past that the meet-and-greets would be important not only for the people of Clinton, but for the finalists and their families.

“You can see them act with some spontaneity and under a little bit of pressure,” Sengle said, adding that the interest between the candidates and town has to be a two-way street. “It’s like a marriage—it’s not simply do we like them, they have to like us, too.”

Once a town manager is selected, it is likely that the person will need 30 to 90 days to take office, especially if he or she is a town manager in another town. During that time before the new hire comes to Clinton to take office, the town would appoint or hire an interim manager.

Sengle said that the goal is to come out of the events on the Dec. 3 with a final choice in mind. The seven-member Town Council that will be elected on Tuesday, Nov. 5 will hire the town manager; at least five members must vote in favor of the winning candidate.

The Town Council members will be seated on Tuesday, Nov. 19. After the elections, SGR and members of the search committee will meet with the new Town Council members and update them on the process going forward. It is possible that the Town Council will vote to keep the TMSC in place to help with the transition. The TMSC charge officially ends when the Town Council is seated.

Sengle insisted that the process is moving on time and has gone smoothly.

“In a perfect world, we’d have someone in place when the Town Council is seated, but that’s a practical impossibility,” he said.

Sengle pointed to the need for SGR to take more time to conduct a deep dive on each candidate as a reason that the meet and greets had to be pushed to December. Sengle said that TMSC meetings with the Town Council candidates to keep them up to speed on the process have helped to ensure a smooth transition.