WILTON – Prior to the hour-long debate on opening up ATV access on private roads, selectmen dispensed with a scheduled executive session at the end of the meeting and instead outright approved the hiring of Rhonda Irish to be the town manager.
Irish, who lives in Jay, currently is the town administrator for Minot, where she has worked for the past four years. Before that, Irish served the town of Jay as the administrator of the town’s recycling and solid waste program for 12 years. Irish worked at the Franklin County Soil & Water Conservation District before working at Jay.
She said that she excited to go to work in Wilton, a town roughly double the size of Minot.
“I’m really, really looking forward to coming to Wilton,” Irish said, noting that there were several similarities between the town and Minot.
While saying that she “loved” working with the residents of Minot, which she described as “a great community,” Irish said she saw different challenges and opportunities in working in a larger community with a larger economic base. While it wasn’t a choice she made lightly, Irish said that concept of new challenges led to her decision.
“It’s why I took the job,” she said.
Irish will graduate with a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Maine system in May, and intends to apply that knowledge to her work in Wilton. First on the agenda will be setting up the 2009-2010 municipal budget. Irish said she was looking forward to meeting with town employees and getting to work.
Irish said that she unofficially accepted the position on Jan. 16. The selectmen’s vote Tuesday made the hiring official. The board spent several sessions reviewing applications and conducting interviews with several candidates before selecting Irish.
