The search for a new municipal administrator for Princeton has been launched, following the Princeton Council’s decision to award a contract to a Cranford-based consultant at its last meeting of 2020.
The Princeton Council awarded a contract for $17,500 to Jersey Professional Management at its Dec. 30 meeting. The contract has a duration of six months.
The search for a new municipal administrator was triggered by Administrator Marc Dashield’s plans to retire as of April 1. Dashield has held the top administrative post for six years.
Dashield succeeded former Municipal Administrator Bob Bruschi, who was the first administrator of the consolidated Municipality of Princeton. Bruschi had been the Princeton Borough administrator, until the former Princeton Borough and the former Princeton Township merged in 2013.
Dashield has spent 27 years in public service, beginning with a stint in the U.S. military and then in local government. He began his career in local government in Franklin Township, where he was, by turns, the township’s municipal clerk, finance director and assistant township manager.
Dashield was the city administrator for the City of Plainfield and the executive assistant for the City of Elizabeth. He moved on to become the township manager and chief operating officer in Montclair. He took on the job of municipal administrator in Princeton.
Jersey Professional Management has assisted more than 300 towns, 50-plus school boards and numerous counties as management consultants, recruiters, temporary employees and shared services specialists, according to its website.
The consulting firm lists former Princeton Borough Administrator Thomas B. Shannon among its professional management team members and employees.
Shannon served as the Princeton Borough administrator during the 1990s, following a stint as the Hillsborough Township manager in the 1980s. He joined Jersey Professional Management in 2001.
