Questions for Richard Howard, Winchester's new Town Manager
On Jan. 3, Malden Mayor Richard Howard will officially assume his role as Winchester’s new Town Manager. Howard, who was selected after a lengthy public interview process, has been Malden’s mayor for the past 16 years.
The Malden native has experience in a number of issues that are relevant in Winchester. He recently oversaw the completion of a 16-year project to renovate Malden High School, and has been working with other government officials to renovate the city’s downtown area. He’s also helped Malden achieve balanced budgets by identifying areas where the city’s government could operate more efficiently.
Howard spoke with The Star about the lessons he took away from his time in Malden and what he’s looking forward to in his new position.
You begin your duties as Winchester’s new Town Manager in January. What is this transition period like?
I’m just trying to get moving a bit on my Winchester duties. But at the same time, Malden just had its election for mayor, and I’ve been working with the mayor-elect on his transition, too. So far, though, things have gone very well. I’ve had some meetings with department heads, to try to get to know them. That experience has been very positive.
Why did you decide not to run for re-election in Malden?
When I made the decision that I wasn’t going to run for mayor, I didn’t know what I was going to do. The town manager’s position didn’t open up until a little bit later. But there were a number of factors. Sixteen years is a long time to be the mayor of Malden. I always knew that at some point, I was going to have to make a decision to move on, whether it was back to law or to something else. I pretty much knew the last time that I ran [for mayor] four years ago that it was going to be my last term, but I always left things open until it was the appropriate time to make the decision. A couple years into my last term, I decided that was going to be it. … Both professionally and personally, I thought it was the right time to leave that office.
Why did you choose to pursue the Winchester opening?
As I began to talk to people and get their perspective, several people mentioned town management. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I talked to some of my colleagues in the town management side, and several mayors I know had made that transition. It made some sense. As I thought about it a little more, I knew there would only be a few locations I would be interested in. As I was doing that analysis, the Winchester opportunity opened up in the summer of this year. At the time, I said to myself that if I was going to give this a try, it’s a location I would want to do it in.
What differences are you seeing between the role of mayor in Malden and town manager in Winchester?
The obvious difference is that you’re not the decision maker. The great thing about being the mayor of a mid-sized city is that you really end up making a lot of decisions, and much of what you decide is in collaboration with members of the city council, the school committee, and others. In many areas, your decision is final. This position is clearly not that. The executive power rests with the Board of Selectman, there is representative Town Meeting, and there are a lot of elected and appointed boards. So in that sense, the job is very different in where you get your leadership from and how things are carried out. But I like the idea that in Winchester, the charter presents a strong town manager’s position. I think based upon my interviews that many of the Board members and other employees in town are looking for strong leadership, and I’m excited to present that.
What are some of the things you want to accomplish in your first few months as Town Manager?
The most important thing is making sure that FY 2013 is set and that the town is ready to submit the budget to the Finance Committee. In terms of true duties, that’s the most important thing in the first several weeks. But what I’ve been trying to do since the town announced my contract is trying to get to know people, namely department heads. I’ve done a handful of meetings already. A high priority is getting to know people. The last part is just getting to know the town, and meet with as many townspeople as I can. I want to get their point of view on what the town is doing well, and what their concerns are. I think the first six months will include a lot of that.
Malden just completed the renovations on its high school, and Winchester is currently studying a new high school of its own. What knowledge did you take away from the Malden project?
First of all, there’s no substitute for good planning. Secondly, in many ways your dye is cast with the team that you select to carry out the project. Teamwork and planning is critical. Construction will be going on for a number of years, and there’ll be a lot of contact and cooperation between the town, the School Committee, the planners, and the builders, so it will be critical to make good choices throughout the process. If you do that, you set yourself up for a good outcome. Generally, that was our experience in Malden.
In Malden, you helped the city maintain balanced budgets through various cost-saving measures. Although you haven’t had the chance to examine Winchester’s budget thoroughly, how will you generally go about identifying ways the town can save money?
I think you have to take a look at what it is you think is essential in terms of the services that are provided. Once you determine that an activity falls within that category, you have to look at how you provide that service and it how it compares to similar communities. From there, you have to determine how you can produce that service in the most efficient way. You don’t want to let quality suffer merely for cost savings, but you want to be able to justify everything that’s in that budget in terms of being essential and necessary.
Malden is currently remodeling its downtown area. Winchester is also looking at ways it can improve its downtown. Are there parallels?
I think you obviously want to try to maintain the features that are relevant to your particular community. Historical preservation is always an important feature, and amplification of historic features is important as well. We’re building a new parking lot [in Malden], for instance, and we want all the common areas that connect the sidewalks and the building facades to complement each other. You want to make sure that you’re doing something that’s worth investing in, and that you’re trying to enhance the character in the immediate surrounding area. That way, property owners will enjoy it, and perhaps want to make an investment in their buildings, walkways, and awnings as well. All of that’s important in the design. You want all the public features to send out the right cues.
During your public interviews, you stated that you prefer to meet people face-to-face as opposed to, say, emailing them. Why?
I think that if an organization has a manageable number of departments or employees, the preference is always to be face-to-face if you’re carrying out an agenda or updating people on an important piece of information. That way, you can answer any questions, or you can read into people’s facial features to make sure that nothing is left unsaid. You can also make sure that the point you’re trying to make is well taken and everyone understands the timeline to carry something out. My experience is that it’s always more beneficial to do that rather than have it be a phone call, a letter, or an email. Obviously, I think having the technology available certainly allows you to do other things and allows a lot of details to be gleaned without requiring everyone to gather in the same place daily. But my own experience has been that the things that have any complication to them are always better to meet about face-to-face.
What is your impression of Winchester over the past few months?
My impressions have been that my first impressions were correct. There are a lot of quality people, and the town is Winchester is very well run and sets a lot of high standards for itself. My hope is that I can, in my position, add to whatever is going on in town, and add to the serious decisions that need to be made. I was looking forward to [the job] when I interviewed, and all the meetings that I’ve had have confirmed what I thought I’d be getting when I came here as my place to work.