Newport’s Rieseberg Moved Up Resignation From Town

By KEVIN BROWN
EAGLE TIMES GENERAL MANAGER
NEWPORT, NH–Former Newport Town Manager HunterRiesebergmoved up his planned Dec. 31 resignationto July 10 to allowthe Board of Selectmen toget startedearlier on finding a replacement,according toboardChairmanBarry Connell. 

“Hunter was not fired,” Connell said.“There was a separation agreement. He can still act as a consultant to the board.That was part of the agreement.It’sa tough, tough job.Any human being gets worn down byit.” 

Connell said the Board of Selectmen decided they did not want to look for a replacement in thewinter,whenthe pool of potential candidates is historically lower.He also said the board wanted to begin interviewing candidates earlier to keep the town on track and moving forward. 

“It was the position of the board that we needed to move forward and put this aspect behind us,” Connell said.“We wanted to begin interviewing candidatessooner.We want to cast a wide net to attract candidates.We had to do a lot of thinking and decided to move ahead.The sooner, the better.” 

The Town is accepting names now for a search committee to handle the advertising,promotionand qualificationsforthenext manager.He said several residents have asked to be on it. 

“As of July 12,interim town manager Paul Brown had received 10names,” Connell said. “The board will namethreeat-large members from the listto the search committee.That committee will discuss the type of person and the things we are looking for in a manager.” 

Connell said the board’s goal is to have a replacement named by October. 

“I would like someone hired before November,” he said. “We are looking for a quality candidate that will work well with the boardand the town’s employees.We want someone who offers a clear understanding of how weoperate, who has a knowledge of the state and the townand someone who can work with our employees.We want them to feel themanager and the boardare supporting them to get the job done.” 

He said some people in town are upset with thechangebutadded “the town is not going to fall apart.We have a solid board and are doing our best to be informed.And we arevery fortunateto have Paul Brown to step in as an interim.”