Select Board interview finance director candidate | News

WILMINGTON — The Select Board held a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28 for the purpose of conducting an interview with a candidate for fi­nance director/town ac­countant.

They first voted to table the appointment of Jo­seph Maselli as a member of the Economic De­velopment Committee, as it was submitted by a board member who wasn’t able to attend the meeting that night.

Among their important dates, the board highlighted an upcoming Wild­wood School Buil­ding Committee meeting on Sept. 17 at Wilmington High School at 6:30 p.m. Town Manager Eric Sla­gle answered a question from Lilia Maselli to ag­ree that Superintendent Glenn Brand would most likely permit residents to share feedback and an­swer their questions at that meeting.

Chair Greg Bendel men­tioned that the vote for the best school option would now be made on Oct. 8. There would also be a community forum on Sept. 18. Slagle added that flyers on the school options would be sent to residents via mail.

Bendel then moved into the interview of Stepha­nie Frontiera for the open position of finance director/town accountant. Since the town re­ceived a qualified application for the open position, he shared that they scheduled this meeting on fairly short notice and properly posted in adv­ance.

Slagle reminded the audience that the previous finance director left in February. He also men­tioned that he met with Frontiera a few weeks ahead of this meeting and she indicated an in­terest to participate in an interview with the board.

Frontiera introduced herself and shared that she currently resides in Georgetown.

Frank West asked the first question about what challenges Frontiera an­ticipates facing by entering into a town position from her current position as the Director of Fi­nance for Gloucester Pub­lic Schools.

Frontiera replied that she has worked in municipal government for 13 years previously, beginning as the assistant town accountant for the Town of Ipswich. She de­tailed how she was promoted quickly into the role of town accountant where she worked for five years.

She took an opportunity to use her degree in business management as the business manager/town accountant for West New­bury, where she remain­ed for three years. About two years ago, she said that she took a leap into the school side to learn school finances.

All this she said has given her great experience where she feels ready to use all the skills and knowledge she has obtained in a town environment where she is more comfortable.

Maselli commented that Frontiera’s experience on both the town and school side was excellent. She asked about her ex­pectations for staff in this role.

Frontiera answered that she would look to have an assistant town accountant to help with the day-to-day finances. She shared that in previous positions she’s had limited staff and had to perform payroll and ac­counts payable.

Gary DePalma stated that finances for the town are going to be tight considering their ongoing construction with the new town hall, senior center, and elementary school, not to mention future projects. He asked how Frontiera would work with the town manager to seek financing or say no to certain projects.

Frontiera shared that Gloucester used the MSBA program to construct a new elementary school where they merged two schools into one which required a large amount of borrowing. She stressed the importance of communication with the treasurer’s office, us­ing different borrowing avenues, and keeping reserves healthy.

DePalma then asked if Frontiera felt that she could work with financial institutions in this position to regulate funding and retain the town’s tri­ple A bond rating.

She replied saying that she did believe she could. She mentioned that she helped to get West New­bury’s bond rating up to triple A and focused a lot of work on keeping their balances level-funded. She said that she would be willing to find other ave­nues of staying financially stable or state when she felt certain spending wasn’t a good idea.

Bendel addressed the town’s free cash and capital stabilization funds amoun­ting to over $30 million. He asked how Fron­tiera would reply to residents who ask about using free cash for a particular project.

She answered that she tries to explain things in a way that those without finance backgrounds can understand. For example, she mentioned reasons to retain free cash at a certain percentage to maintain their bond rating, and going below a certain percentage may change the town’s financial picture.

She went on to explain that she had looked over the town’s financial statements and budgets and noticed that the town oft­en receives more revenues than projected.

Bendel asked about her experience on the school side and how that may be a positive. Frontiera shared that she could better un­derstand requests from the school department and what was necessary.

Slagle asked about her comfort level stepping into this community. Fron­tiera shared excitement for being able to use the town’s financial software MUNIS, in which she had experience setting up, training new staff, and working within the individual modules.

West asked if Frontiera had Massachusetts Muni­cipal Auditor and Account­ants’ Association Certifi­cate and Massachusetts Certified Procurement Of­ficer certifications. Fron­tiera replied that she had the former but not the latter, and she would be willing to seek it if necessary.

Maselli asked about her experience working with finance committees. Fron­tiera said that she has had many great interactions with finance committees.

DePalma wondered if she would be biased to the school department or the town, and she replied that she would look at the big picture and do what’s best for the town’s budget.

Bendel lastly asked about her private sector experience. Frontiera described that she worked at State Street Bank for about 10 years, where she learned skills including hard work, multi-tasking, and time management before she was able to step into a position in Ipswich where she could give back to her community. She also ad­ded that she had been considering the role for awhile and she felt she was a great fit for Wilmington.

Bendel said that the board would check Fron­tiera’s references and she would likely hear from the town manager in the near future.

The meeting adjourned into executive session in­cluding for purposes of discussing strategies for collective bargaining and negotiations with nonun­ion personnel for the position of finance director.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Mon­day, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.