Marblehead and Swampscott have entered into an inter-municipal agreement to share a building commissioner, buying Marblehead some time to figure out a permanent solution.
“The current agreement runs through the end of the fiscal year to plug the vacancy and to act as a pilot program,” Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer told the Marblehead Current on Nov. 17. “I am confident that this agreement can also work in the long term.”
The Marblehead Select Board appointed Swampscott Building Commissioner Stephen Cummings as building commissioner unanimously this month. The appointment fills a vacancy created when former commissioner John Albright departed from the administrative role on April 30. The town’s former building commissioner, Bob Ives, had been filling in as an interim solution. Cummings has been hired to fill the role.
Cummings brings over 25 years of construction and inspection experience to his new role as part-time building commissioner in Marblehead. Cummings has served as the building commissioner in Swampscott for the past two years. Prior to that, he worked for five years as a local inspector in Salem, where he became certified as a building commissioner during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before his time in Salem, Cummings owned his own construction company for 20 years. Between his construction business, inspector roles in Swampscott and Salem, and his building commissioner certification, Cummings has approximately 27 years of relevant industry experience that made him well-qualified to take on the building commissioner job in Marblehead, according to Marblehead officials.
With the Select Board approving the inter-municipal agreement, Cummings will devote 16 hours to Marblehead per week.
Before the Select Board vote, Cummings said he relies on teamwork when asked about managing both towns.
“If we have a good team, I think we can all work together and get it done,” he said. “I have very good time management.”
Select Board member Moses Grader said he was “glad” Cummings emphasized teamwork.
“Your position is a very leveraged position, so very important for us to fill that gap and make our team more efficient,” Grader told Cumming.
