The Andover Select Board will vote to approve hiring a communications director when it meets Monday night, according to the meeting agenda.
Pending select board approval at Monday’s 7 p.m. meeting, Phillip Geoffrey would start Jan. 10 and be paid $98,500 per year. According to his LinkedIn profile, Geoffrey has worked for the City of Lowell since 2019, first as an executive assistant in the communications department and most recently as the assistant to the city manager. Prior to that, he was a legislative director in the state senate. He is a 2015 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and a 2011 graduate of Chelmsford High School.
In August, Town Manage Andrew Flanagan outlined a comprehensive plan aimed at improving town communications with the addition of a new position under his direction. Among other responsibilities, Geoffrey will develop a newsletter, a town hall blog and other communications to highlight initiatives across all departments.
The position is necessary in part, Flanagan said in August, because of the decline of local media coverage in towns like Andover.
In other business at its first meeting of 2023, the select board will:
- Discuss and vote on accepting the Town Governance Study Committee recommendations to remove a residency requirement for town manager and to allow electronic voting at town meeting.
- Approve hiring Evan Sermos as a mechanical engineer at a salary of $86,634.26 per year and Tara Bicknell as the assistant town accountant/town auditor at a salary of $83,026.17 per year.
Monday’s meeting will be held at the Cormier Youth Center (40 Whhittier Court).