Community Corner

Winchester Selects Mayor Howard of Malden as New Town Manager

The board announced it selected Mayor Howard Thursday evening.

The Winchester Board of Selectmen announced that at their posted public meeting Thursday evening they contingent upon successful contract negotiations and remaining due diligence.

Mr. Forrest Fontana, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen noted, “I have spoken to Richard and he is excited & energized about the opportunity to join our community as our next Town Manager.  Our town was privileged to have such highly qualified & talented final candidates to choose among.  Mr. Bisignani, Mr. Maylor and Mr. Younger are all true stewards for their peer towns, and epitomize all that is good about our public leaders.”

Howard is currently the Mayor of the City of Malden. He has been the Mayor of Malden since 1996, and is not seeking reelection. As Mayor he serves as the School Committee Chairperson.

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Fontana went on to add “we made sure that this was a two-way street.  Only through an authentic and comprehensive search process would we ensure the highest probability of success for our community.  I am very grateful and extremely proud of the efforts put forth by my fellow Selectmen and our town’s Search Advisory Committee.  They represent the true essence of volunteer public service.  During our search process we also wanted the finalists to get to know our community, its residents & employees, our Board & Senior Management team, and our values & priorities.  We recognized that this would be a critical personal & professional decision for the candidates as well.  Our town’s search & selection process will set a new benchmark by which other towns will measure themselves.  The conclusion of this thorough process is our choice of Mr. Richard Howard, and I can truly say that his selection is in the best interests of Winchester.”

Prior to serving as Mayor, Howard had a law practice providing representation to business-oriented clients, including banking and real estate development. He also represented clients before local board and commissions.

Find out what's happening in Winchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mr. Bob Joy, Chairman of the Town Manager Search Advisory Committee added "the process followed to select Winchester's Town Manager has been open, thorough and deliberate. The Search Advisory Committee's intent was to serve the Board of Selectmen and the citizens of Winchester well. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Committee for the diligence and thoughtful approach which they brought to this task. We join the Board of Selectmen in wishing Mr. Richard Howard every success as Winchester's next Town Manager.”

The board were conducting interviews with four finalists - Andrew R. Bisignani (Saugus Town Manager), Howard, Andrew W. Maylor (Swampscott Town Administrator) and Thomas G. Younger (Belmont Town Administrator.

Maylor removed his name from consideration last week


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