Officials hope to start interviewing candidates for a new township administrator by the end of January, and to have someone selected by April or May.
By: Lacey Korevec
Officials hope to start interviewing candidates for a new township administrator by the end of January, and to have someone selected by April or May.
Current Township Administrator Tom Witt, who has worked for the township since 1981 and currently earns $114,700 a year, announced in November that he plans to retire June 1.
Mr. Witt joined the district as a Public Works employee, before becoming sewer and water superintendent in 1986. In 1987, he became Public Works superintendent and was made the township qualified purchasing agent in 1999. Mr. Witt became township administrator in 2005.
The township is now in the process of finding Mr. Witt’s replacement. An advertisement has been completed and sent out to publications, Committeeman Richard Stannard said.
"We would like to start early on this year," he said, adding that the committee would like to have a replacement by April or May before Mr. Witt leaves. "Before the end of March, we’d have to have the process started and pretty well going."
In the meantime, the township is looking over some resumes that were sent to Town Hall in 2005, when the township was looking to replace former Township Administrator Frederick Carr, who resigned before Mr. Witt took over the position, Mr. Stannard said.
"Obviously, some people may be no longer interested," he said. "Some people may already have the job of their dreams. But if there are any of the people who did send in resumes before, and are qualified and still interested, it’s a good place to start."
According to the advertisement, some of the township administrator’s responsibilities are to "initiate and propose policies and procedures for improvement of Township services and general municipal needs, and to assist the Township Committee in its relations with County and State Officials and agencies."
Mr. Stannard said experience and good leadership qualities are key in any candidate.
"If they have the life experience of running something, that would be a plus, because it doesn’t necessarily have to be a township, it could be a business," he said. "A lot of the situations that come up end up being very similar. You don’t have to have experience running a municipality, but it certainly would help."
The new administrator will be chosen before Mr. Witt leaves on June 1, Mr. Stannard said.
"Obviously, you want to try and get somebody on board before the one that you have leaves," he said.

