against the town—efforts to fill their seats revealed yet another problem. The town, it turns out, has become too expensive for qualified candidates of even the highest-ranking leadership jobs to live in. Affordable housing has simply become too expensive for all but the upper-middle class, at best. Case in point: In late 2014 after an exhaustive search, the town selected Richard Reinhard, a candidate from Washington, D.C. with a strong community business development background, to be its new town manager. Yet, after several rounds of contract negotiations to finalize the deal, Reinhard informed the town in an email that, “In visiting Provincetown, I developed a better understanding that the town’s resources would not allow me to be compensated in a way that I had anticipated. I also became acutely aware of the high housing prices in the town.” Almost a year later, similar sentiments were echoed by the town’s choice for a new library director after a similarly exhaustive search. Rebecka Lindau, who had headed the rare books collection at the Lambertville, New Jersey Free Public
The town, it turns out, has become too expensive for qualified candidates of even the highest‑ranking leadership jobs to live in. Library, told the town she could not find a home on the Lower Cape. She filed for two extensions, conducting an exhaustive search herself for an affordable place to live, but to no avail. As for the police department, the general consensus in town is that Acting Chief James Golden is doing a great job and many would like to see him appointed to lead the force. But Golden lives in the slightly more affordable neighboring town of Truro, and the law in Provincetown states that the chief must reside in the town in which he serves. Moreover,
Provincetown’s law stipulates that the chief’s appointment must be made by its town manager and, of course, there is no town manager to appoint the chief. A sense that the town’s leadership is hanging by a thread, if not in full-fledged plummet, abounds. Never have the local blogs been more disparaging. Yet the wheels of government keep chugging along in Town Hall as steadily as the annual Carnival Parade floats down Commercial Street, year after year—after year. Board of Selectman Chair Tom Donegan (who, incidentally, took over the job that
We Value Inclusion Every Day. See why we have been rated the #1 Health Plan in the Country.*
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. *National Committee on Quality Assurance, Private Health Insurance and Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2014-2015.