Granby Select Board appoints new town administrator

Shelley Poreda, pictured her on Jan. 9 at her interview for the position of town administrator, was unanimously chosen by the select board after the retirement of Christopher Martin at the beginning of November. SOURCE/Granby Community Access and Media—
Published: 01-17-2025 2:51 PM
Modified: 01-17-2025 4:03 PM |
GRANBY — For the first time in 23 years, Granby has a new town administrator after the Select Board this week unanimously agreed to appoint Shelley Poreda to the position.
Poreda, will replace Chris Martin, who retired on Nov. 1 after 23 years in the position, and will become officially town administrator following negotiations with the town that will lay out the terms of her contract.
“We had good candidates,” said Select Board member Glen Sexton, referring to three other finalists who vied for the spot during interviews on Jan. 9. According to Sexton, Poreda “will make a better fit for the town right now,” and made the case that she had an impressive resume, touting her background in local schools and business administration that made her a “prime candidate.”
She holds an undergraduate degree from Bay Path University in business administration and nonprofit management, and a master’s in nonprofit and philanthropy, also from Bay Path.
She had worked at Amherst Montesori School just short of a decade, starting as an office manager and moving up to director of finance, followed by three years as head of school. She then went on to work in business offices of Chicopee Public Schools. Poreda has been at Frontier Regional School District in Deerfield since 2019, and is in her sixth school year as the director of business administration and currently lives in Sunderland.
“This was a really difficult decision for me to apply to this job because I’m really happy where I am,” Poreda told the board during her final interview. “I love the people that I work with, my school committees and relationships with the towns are really strong, but somebody forwarded this to me and said to me this is you. And I read the job description and I said ‘wow this is a good fit for me, personally and professionally.’ And I think that I have the leadership skills and the budgetary background that Granby is looking for.”
Poreda grew up in South Hadley, and described herself as “a mom to humans and dogs,” as she has three dogs and two sons — a 17 and 15 year old who attend Frontier.
Concerns were raised by Select Board that she would require 90 days before beginning her position as town administrator, since the town will be without a town administrator as of Jan. 24.
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But Sexton said the time she asked for, in his mind, represented her commitment to her current employer. He views the request as “being professional.”
Select Board Chair Crystal Dufresne said in the case of a temporary vacancy in the town administrator position, the police chief would serve as interim.
Prior to Poreda’s selection, the four candidates were narrowed to a choice between her and Michael Durham, a Granby resident and budget analyst for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Select Board members felt that Poreda has more experience in small town budgets, as opposed to Durham’s experience with larger budgets in cities with mayors.
“She has more experience ... than Michael Durham does,” said Sexton. “She has 23 years in business administration. She is in charge of five different budgets right now working with five different municipalities on setting the budget and making sure everyone’s adhering to it.”
The other candidates were Scott Butcher, a previous town administrator of Brookline, New Hampshire and Michael Szlosek, the town moderator of Ludlow and town administrator of North Brookfield.
Samu el Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com