BELCHERTOWN — In a move that caught at least two of its members off guard, the Select Board chose a 25-year department head to be town administrator after members deemed the three finalists recommended by a search panel were not a good fit for the town.

In a unanimous 5-0 vote at their May 1 meeting, board members agreed to offer the job to longtime Public Works Director Steve Williams, who applied for the job but was not put forward as a finalist by a search committee or interviewed by the board. Williams emerged as a “stealth candidate” after board member Ronald Aponte checked off the pros and cons of the finalists as he saw them and concluded he couldn’t vote for any of them.

“This is the most important appointment a board can make,” Aponte said.

Considering the problem, he said he had “an epiphany: There’s a fourth candidate.”

Turning to Williams, who was in the meeting room, he acknowledged that the board didn’t interview him as a candidate, but said he doubted that was necessary, praising his character and asserting that he was respected by town employees and the community.

“I realize it’s a departure,” Aponte said.

He said there’s nothing in the rules requiring the board to appoint one of the finalists from the search process.

“I think we have to do what’s best for the town of Belchertown,” he said. “I think it’s the right thing to do. Steve checks all the boxes.”

Aponte’s suggestion appeared to take some board members by surprise.

“I’m a little speechless,” Jennifer Turner said.

Fellow board member Edward Boscher agreed that no one stood out for him among the finalists, but said he didn’t feel ready to jump to a “stealth candidate.”

Board member Margaret Louraine said her preference had been Whately Town Administrator Brian Domina, but she said that if Williams had been on the list, “it would have been a no-brainer.”

In response to Louraine’s question, Williams said he submitted an application for the job but did not get an interview with the search committee. He said he was interested in the job, which is being vacated as Town Administrator Gary Brougham retires at the end of June.

Chairman James Barry also said he favored Domina, and said it was a concern that Williams might lack the required education and credentials, but he declared himself open to a fourth candidate.

Aponte said Williams has a bachelor’s degree and no experience as a town administrator, but he said 25 years of running the town’s largest department sounded like equivalent credentials to him.

“I’m comfortable,” he said.

Boscher praised Williams as an outstanding candidate, but noted again that he was not comfortable with the process.

“We’ve talked about this for about 10 minutes,” he said. “If I had a concern, that would be it.”

Turner said she was struggling with casting aside the time and effort that had gone into the search process.

Barry suggested the board should ask Williams some of the same questions it had asked the finalists.

Williams spoke of his experience running a department with 32 employees and a $6 million budget, along with his institutional knowledge of the town.

He said he has been involved with economic development and said it was a mistake for the town to focus too much on one area and neglect others.

He cited the town’s changing demographics, with census data showing a 6% increase in the senior population between 2010 and 2020, and said Belchertown should be thinking about how it can attract families.

Asked about the town’s structural deficit, he said it needs to close the gap while preserving core services.

He said a leader doesn’t impose his views on everyone else.

“A leader gets everybody looking at the same goals, and everybody works together as a team,” he said.

After some discussion of the relative merits of insider knowledge and continuity as against an outsider’s perspective, Aponte’s motion to appoint Williams, subject to contract negotiations and a background check, was approved unanimously.

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