By Steve Landwehr
HAMILTON — A search committee appointed to find Hamilton's first town manager provided the selectmen with candidates from near and far.
Good thing. The man they ultimately decided was the nearest fit came from the farthest away.
Michael A. Lombardo, whose most recent public employment was as the city manager in Iowa City, Iowa, will be offered a three-year contract to become the first town manager since Hamilton was incorporated in 1793. The job was advertised with a salary of $125,000 a year.
Lombardo and town officials will have to agree to an employment contract to seal the deal. He reportedly made $169,000 in his last job.
Reached in Iowa City last night, Lombardo said he was "very thankful to be offered the opportunity."
Although Lombardo was terminated as city manager in Iowa City after just 11 months, for reasons city councilors have refused to disclose, all three selectmen said they were satisfied they shouldn't hold that against him.
"Municipal government is a buzz saw," said David Carey, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. "You'll always have somebody you're butting heads with."
"Sometimes there are bad fits," Selectman Bill Bowler said.
Selectman Jennifer Scuteri said she spoke with Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek and was told Lombardo wasn't terminated due to any criminal activity and he would not have faced any administrative punishment if he had not been fired.
Scuteri said Hayek told her the matter was "a personnel decision."
Furthermore, Scuteri said she talked to a number of people in Iowa City who were shocked by his firing and lauded his ability to form community partnerships.
Each selectman spent about 15 minutes explaining the rationale for their decision. The pre-eminent common theme was the town's need to expand its commercial tax base.
That calls for someone who can get out in front of projects and champion them, they all said in some fashion.
"We can have all the vision you want, but if the community doesn't support it, it will never get executed," Scuteri said.
If the only requirement was planning and development skills, Bowler said his vote would have been different.
"My sentimental favorite is Jason Hoch," Bowler said. "I liked his style."
Hoch was previously the town manager in Plaistow, N.H. The other candidate, Charles "Chuck" Kostro, is currently the town administrator in Newbury.
Kostro's lack of experience with developers counted against him, Scuteri said, though it wasn't his fault.
"That's not where the residents of Newbury are right now," she said.
All the discussions kept coming back to forging bonds with the community, and all three board members said they believe Lombardo was the most likely to succeed at that, even in the face of opposition.
"If it came down to a Town Meeting vote, I do think he'd deliver the votes," Scuteri said.
On the other hand, if selectmen are looking for a "yes man," Carey said, Lombardo wasn't the right choice.
"The best impression I get is he's not going to just carry water for the selectmen," he said.
When the University of Iowa is in session, Iowa City's population is about eight times that of Hamilton. Bowler said he had some concern Lombardo might feel the job was not challenging enough.
Lombardo said that won't be the case. He submitted his résumé only after carefully considering the community, he said.
"It was a thoughtful decision on my and my family's part," he said.
