New town manager focusing on economic development

WINSTED — In his second week on the job, Dale Martin, Winsted’s new town manager, said at his office Tuesday afternoon that he wants to focus on saving the town from the economic doom that has plagued many communities across the country, including many in his home state of Michigan.A former city manager in Davison, Mich., Martin, 47, acknowledged that he had become fed up with the lack of progress there and wanted a new challenge. He looked at management jobs across the country before interviewing for the position in Winsted.“I guess part of my goal is to make sure Connecticut doesn’t become another Michigan,” Martin said. “A lot of the same issues seem to be on the minds of city councils across the country, but I got the impression that many people didn’t understand how bad the problems are in Michigan.”A divorced father of three, Martin is embarking on a new chapter in his life after serving in city and town manager positions in four different Michigan communities between 1996 and 2010. Prior to that, Martin served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division as an intelligence officer stationed in Germany from 1992 to 1994. He also served as a mechanized infantry platoon leader in Germany during the Gulf War.Martin jokingly calls himself “an overeducated infantry lieutenant” but said his military experience helped him develop effective leadership and problem-solving skills.Still, some of those skills seemed to be wasted on his most recent job. “We spent three council meetings trying to determine whether people should be allowed to have three or four dogs,” he said.Martin noted that local Michigan politics, with all of its flaws, is different than Connecticut because there are no party affiliations. “There are no D or R issues,” he said. Still, he said, there are contentious issues and conflicts that often stand in the way of progress and it is important for a town manager to remain above the political fray. “Part of my challenge is to look at issues from a town perspective and not a political perspective,” he said.Martin takes over for Temporary Interim Town Manager Paul Vayer of New Britain, who was tapped to serve in place of former Town Manager Wayne Dove. Dove resigned last year and stepped down from the position at the end of October.After a week on the job, Martin said he hasn’t made any major changes at Town Hall, but he has instituted a weekly e-mail update to selectmen and members of the local media, and said he is already working on developing a stronger relationship between the town and Northwestern Connecticut Community College.“I want to focus on how we can build on the town’s strengths and work within that framework to enhance the quality of life we have in town,” Martin said. “I am going to keep knocking on doors and gauging the pulse of the community.”