Milford Selectmen will conduct initial interviews with six candidates of 36 who applied for the Town Administrator position.

The candidates include four local residents, and will be brought in for 45-minute interviews in early February. They are:

Barbara A. Auger, Milford town treasurer for the past 15 years; Noel G. Bon Tempo, an attorney, and a social studies teacher with Milford High School; John D'Agostino, the town manager in Abington, on the South Shore, whose contract recently was not renewed; William E. Kingkade Jr., a Milford Finance Committee member and a manager with the state MBTA; Mark S. Stankiewicz, a former town manager in Stoughton and Plymouth; and Richard Villani, an attorney and Geriatric Authority member.

The remaining candidates will be notified this week by letter, explaining they had not been selected for interviews.

All three Milford Selectmen will conduct the interviews with the candidates, scheduled for Feb. 6 and 7, and will then discuss whether to proceed with another round of final interviews. All candidates will be required to submit three references in advance.

Selectmen discussed whether to conduct a background check of the six candidates, before scheduling the interviews, a position advocated by Selectman Bill Buckley. "What I don't want to do is spend an hour with someone who may have something in their background that precludes them from becoming a town administrator," he said.

But Brian Murray and Dino DeBartolomeis suggested the board wait on that step until after meeting with candidates.

Thirty-six applicants had submitted materials for the town administrator position, which was advertised for several weeks. Selectmen on Thursday advanced candidates to the interview phase if at least two of the three members on the board wanted to interview them.

In all of the cases except one, all of the selectmen wanted to interview the candidate. Buckley said he did not want to pursue an interview with Villani, while Murray and DeBartolomeis did. 

Selectmen said they expected the candidates to comply with the requirements for applying, including providing an academic transcript, which is an official document from a university verifying coursework. Several candidates did not do so, selectmen observed. And Buckley said several times he wanted the candidates for interviews to have municipal experience in Massachusetts.

Of the original applicants, Grady Miller, the former town manager in Narragansett, RI, withdrew before the selectmen began their review.

Current Town Administrator Louis Celozzi announced his retirement last year, and is expected to retire in late March. Selectmen have said they hope to have his successor in place for several weeks before his departure, to assure a smooth transition.

The salary range for the town administrator position was set between $90,000 and $125,000, although the board will negotiate a contract.