Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Wayland Select Board Names Michael McCall as Town Manager

Michael McCall has been selected to serve as Town Manager of Wayland. (Photo Courtesy)

WAYLAND — The Wayland Select Board is pleased to announce that Michael McCall has been selected to serve as the first Town Manager of Wayland following a comprehensive search.

The Select Board announced the hiring of McCall at a meeting on Thursday, Dec. 22. He was present at the meeting and signed a contract with the Town. He will officially assume the Town Manager position in late February.

“Michael is a proven leader and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in all aspects of government administration and procedure, and we are very excited to welcome him aboard as our next Town Manager,” Select Board Chair Cherry Karlson said. “We thank the community for their participation in this process and for helping us find a Town Manager that represents the values of our community.”

In March 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed a special act allowing Wayland’s form of government to change from one with a Town Administrator to one with a Town Manager, making McCall the first official Town Manager of Wayland. 

 “I am truly honored to serve as Wayland’s first Town Manager.  I am looking forward to working with the residents, staff, and Select Board on their goals and objectives, and I am eager to get started,” McCall said.

Most recently McCall served as Town Manager in Southbridge. He has also served as the Assistant Town Manager for the Town of Chelmsford, and as an attorney for the Pelham, N.H., and Milford, N.H., Police Departments.

Through these roles, he has gained skills in management; administrative procedure, municipal administration and state government; developing and implementing measures to improve the efficiency and economy of limited budgetary resources; human resources and personnel administration; and more.

McCall has served as a member of the Select Board and an elected Town Meeting representative in his hometown of Chelmsford.

McCall speaks German and some Spanish. He is a Certified Massachusetts Public Purchasing Official and is a member of the International City/County Management Association and Massachusetts Municipal Management Association. He also is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and United States District Courts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

McCall holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School, a juris doctor from the Suffolk University Law School, a master’s of computer science from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Merrimack College. He also holds a certificate in local government leadership and management from Suffolk University.

McCall was identified following a search by the Wayland Select Board and GovHR, an executive recruitment firm specializing in the public sector, to assist in the search for the next Town Manager. The Town Manager search was supported by input from community members through surveys and forums. The search placed an emphasis on soliciting applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and skills that align with the priorities of the Wayland community. The Select Board wishes to recognize the Town Manager Screening Committee, which consisted of seven residents that assisted the Select Board in identifying the three finalists for the Town Manager position, for their hard work throughout this process.

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