Entering Dalton Sign

Three candidates will compete to become Dalton’s next police chief, including a 23-year member of the force, Sgt. Deanna Strout.

DALTON — Three finalists for the post of Dalton town manager, all of whom hold public sector jobs in Western Massachusetts, will be interviewed by videoconference, starting this week.

A fourth prospective finalist pulled out of consideration, according to Select Board Chair Robert W. Bishop Jr., because the town requires that the manager live in Dalton within a year of hiring.

The person chosen will become Dalton’s third town manager, succeeding Kenneth Walto, who held the job for two decades. Walto was making $114,815 a year when he retired.

While the public can watch the interviews, only members of the Select Board will question the candidates. The proceeding will be shown on local cable television, Channel 1301, and can be viewed online through Zoom, using the link provided on the board’s agenda for the date of the session. That can be found by visiting mytowngovernment.org/01226.

Up first is Susan Carmel of Pittsfield, who will join a Zoom proceeding with the Select Board starting at 6:15 p.m. Thursday. Carmel is finance director for the town of Great Barrington.

Thomas Hutcheson of Greenfield, administrator for the Franklin County town of Conway since 2013, will be interviewed at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

Next week, officials will speak with the third candidate, David Flaherty of Westfield, at 6:15 p.m. Jan. 27. Flaherty sits on Westfield’s City Council and is listed online as president of DFA Group LLC, an IT business.

Sandra J. Albano, Dalton’s town accountant, has filled in since August as interim town manager. She led the search committee that interviewed roughly a dozen candidates and selected the finalists who will be interviewed this month.

The town is also searching for a new police chief. Last week, another committee interviewed five candidates — from an initial field of two dozen — to replace former Chief Jeffrey E. Coe. Coe left voluntarily as chief last summer after officials questioned aspects of his job performance. The settlement that led to Coe’s departure paid him roughly a year’s salary.

Joe Diver, the Select Board member who chairs the chief search panel, said he expects that names of three finalists will be announced by mid-February, after members of several ad hoc groups meet the candidates. The town hired a consultant to advise it on the search.

For the past half-year, the chief’s job has been performed by Anthony J. Riello, a former Pittsfield chief, working on an interim basis. The pay range for the chief’s job is in the $95,000 a year range, according to Joe Diver, the Select Board member heading up the search panel for that post.

Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com and 413-588-8341.