Struggling with town manager search, Bedford mulls change

BEDFORD Following a unanimous vote by the Town Council, three amendments to the Town Charter will be put to the electorate on the September ballot.

Vice Chairman Chris Bandazian explained the amendments at last week's meeting. The first would expand the time allowed to replace a town councilor; the second would expand the time allowed for a town manager to move to Bedford; and the third would bring the council's bonding authority into compliance with state law.

Bandazian said the motivation for the second amendment is the need to hire a new town manager in light of barriers faced during the nearly seven-month search period.

Hopefully we will be successful in this latest round of recruitment, but if for some reason we aren't, if we do not have these amendments on the September ballot, we'll have to wait until March, Bandazian said.

The next amendment deals with town manager residency. Whereas the current provision requires a town manager to relocate to Bedford within six months, the amendment would extend that period to 18 months.

According to MRI, the firm hired to conduct Bedford's town manager search after a failed effort on the part of the council, certain high-powered candidates have rejected the position due to residency requirement.

But doing away with the requirement was off the table, Bandazian said. We all felt that the loyalty and investment that one has in the town, by virtue of residency, was very important and something that should be preserved.

Candidates have expressed concern with the necessity to move to Bedford in six months, he added, given the amount of time it takes to sell a house.

A second household income is another important factor, with candidates unsure of whether their spouses would find equal-paying work in the area.

The inability to find new work because of the way the labor market is at the current time also made it difficult for people to relocate, where that second income would have to be sacrificed, Bandazian said.

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Struggling with town manager search, Bedford mulls change