Politics & Government

Dedham TA William Keegan Among Finalists for Foxborough Town Manager Role

Foxborough selectmen will review the applications of three men vying for the town manager position.

By Dan Libon

After receiving applications from 36 candidates, the vacant town manager position in Foxborough now comes down to three men and interviews with the selectmen.

Revealing the finalist at Thursday’s selectmen meeting, town manager screening committee member and Foxboro Public Schools Business Administrator Bill Yukna expressed the committee’s satisfaction for the final three candidates.

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“We are comfortable as a group with their experience level and I think you’ll see you have some very qualified individuals to fill this role,” Yukna told the selectmen.

Of the 36 applications sent to the Collins Center for Public Management, 21 were passed on to the screening committee, nine were chosen for interviews with the screening committee, and the final three unanimously chosen by the screening committee for final interviews with the selectmen.

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Norfolk Town Administrator Jack Hathaway, Dedham Town Administrator William Keegan and former Wayland town administrator Frederic Turkington were listed as the three finalists for the position.

A Norfolk town employee since 2003, Hathaway came to Norfolk as the town's accountant/finance director. After two years in the position, he was named the town administrator.

Prior to working in Norfolk, Hathaway received his bachelor's degree from the University of New Hampshire and received a certificate in local government leadership and management from Suffolk University. 

Other jobs held includes director at First Data Corporation from 1994 to 1997, VP of finance and compliance at Citizens Funds from 1997 to 1998, senior manager of project implementation for Forum Financial Group in Portland, ME from 1998-2000, and project manager at Investors Bank and Trust from 2003-2005.

Spending most of his career in public service, Keegan attended Westfield State College for his bachelor's degree and the University of Massachusetts for his master's degree in regional planning. He started out as the town planner for Millbury in the early 80s before becoming the the assistant to the town manager in Shrewsbury in 1984, and then the assistant town administrator in Wayland in 1988.

After spending 1992 to 1997 as the director of human resources and labor relations for Hollywood, FL, Keegan returned to Massachusetts to become the Seekonk town administrator and then the Dedham town administrator in 2002.

Shortly after graduating from Bates College in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Connecticut in 1985, Turkington was employed as a management analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice in 1986 before becoming the assistant town administrator for Vernon, Conn in 1987. 

From 1996 to 2005, Turkington served as the chief administrator for the town of Canton, Conn. In Sept. 2005, he was hired as the Wayland town administrator and served in the position until he was abruptly fired without cause by the Wayland Board of Selectmen in Aug. 2013 according to the Boston Globe. 

The three men will be contacted for interviews with the selectmen on Tuesday evening in the Foxboro High School media center.


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