While most of us were hunkered down as of March 16, 2020, the work of town government continued uninterrupted as the paid professionals and unpaid officials met via Zoom and even conducted hiring procedures for several positions. Here’s what they have to say about trying to start new jobs during COVID. We asked the same questions of all of them. This is the second installment in the series – Town Administrator, Travis Ahern

Travis Ahern
Town Administrator

What have the biggest challenges been during COVID?

Starting as Town Administrator in the middle of the COVID-19 was certainly challenging, but it also presented the opportunity to see our departments and staff rise to the many challenges – including on my first day on the job when the Town safely put on its delayed Annual Town Meeting (July 20, 2020) to the credit of all involved, but specifically the Emergency Management Director, Chief Cassidy, the Facilities Manager, James Keast, and the IT Director, Chris Meo.

By the end of August 2020, we had managed to successfully hold a Select Board Public Forum on traffic in the Lowland Industrial Park area which hit the highest public remote participation we had ever handled (143 separate participants), and that was soon dwarfed by the consistent participation that was seen at Planning Board meetings over the past 9+ months (557 separate participants as the high water mark in Feb. 2021).

I’m very proud of the Town’s ability to rise to the challenge of keeping residents involved in public discussion throughout the pandemic. All services areas (Public Safety, Public Works, Land Use, Finance, IT, Clerk, Library, COA, YFS, Veterans Services, Recreation) found a way to keep providing services despite capacity restrictions in buildings and changing instructions from the Federal and State governments – really remarkable all around for the Boards and Committees involved and the Department Heads that managed these conditions.

What do you see for opportunities in Holliston from where you sit?

Some of the opportunities facing the Town of Holliston are specifically in response to COVID – the way we provide services to the Town may forever be altered by what we have experienced (the increased use of technology to connect residents as one clear byproduct of the pandemic). Additionally, there are new grant opportunities that will lead to a number of initiatives for the Town to promote economic recovery, mental health initiatives, infrastructure improvements, etc.

Also, I see the desire of the community to get back together following the pandemic as an opportunity for more community events during and after this summer. The Memorial Day celebration was a nice ice-breaker to get the Town outside together again and the Farmers Markets planned in Blair Square each Sunday starting on Fathers Day is another example.

What successes have you already enjoyed? What’s the good news?

I’m not going to point to any projects that I’ve deemed successful because that success will really be borne out over time. But having helped organize and manage the December 2020 and May 2021 Town Meetings felt like success to me in my first year in Town – it’s a vital event/process to keep local government operating and providing services to residents. Beyond that, it would be premature to point to any specific projects as successful, so let’s check in on that question again next year!

What keeps you awake at night now that things are normalizing – hopefully nothing!

Many things keep me awake at night – namely my young children – but my main concern in year-one has been to ensure that the Town is capitalizing on all available grant/funding opportunities outside of tax dollars from Holliston residents and I feel that we’ve done that (with significant help from Rep. Dykema and Sen. Spilka).

In order to sleep, I’ve had to prioritize in year-one and make sure that anything that couldn’t be top priority in FY21 stays on our radar in FY22. Looking ahead, one of the things that I’m very excited about is the support from the Select Board, Finance Committee, Town Meeting and others for the reorganization that will soon lead to the hiring of a new Assistant Town Administrator (hope to have someone onboard in August). I think this hiring will increase our internal capacity for project management and I’m excited to have this person work with the IT Director and others to optimize our public outreach efforts through various technology platforms. I’m sleeping better now with some of the changes I see coming!

What message would you like to send to the community?

My message to the community would be: I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to be out there meeting you all in-person over this past year due to the circumstances of COVID-19 (though I tried to meet as many Boards and Committees via Zoom as possible!), but I’m very excited to be in Holliston and look forward to moving beyond the pandemic to the Town’s “new normal.”

If any resident has any concerns, big or small, and you’re unclear how to get something accomplished, you should always feel free to reach out to my office for assistance. Thanks!