High Stakes and Sharp Words: Marshfield Select Board Collides Over Frustrated Town Administrator Search
MARSHFIELD - May 28, 2026 - A routine update on Marshfield’s year-long search for a permanent town administrator exploded into a fierce, public confrontation on Thursday night. Tensions boiled over as Select Board members and the screening committee traded accusations of bypassed deadlines, unauthorized back-channel interviews, and blatant disrespect, exposing deep operational fractures just weeks before a critical town meeting.
The Full Story
The Marshfield Select Board met on Thursday evening facing a heavy legislative slate, but the night’s dominant narrative was established early during an explosive review of the Town Administrator search. Search Committee Chairman Joe Ring came forward to present four vetted finalists to move onto public interviews: Peter Caruso (Town Administrator in Millville), Edward “Ted” Langill (Chief of Staff in Weymouth), Daniel Riviello (Assistant Town Administrator in Provincetown), and Marc Strange (Town Administrator in Ludlow).
The presentation quickly degraded into an intense argument when Select Board member Eric Kelley objected to the finalists, asserting that the Select Board had previously voted to establish a strict application deadline of March 6, 2026. Kelley claimed that the screening committee ignored this directive by continuing to review candidates who applied well after the cut-off date.
Interim Town Administrator Peter Morin shot back, revealing that the original job posting—voted on and approved by the board—explicitly stated the search would remain open “until filled”. Morin then turned the tables, aggressively accusing Kelley of running a rogue, parallel search process that circumvented the town’s established committee. Morin alleged that Kelley independently interviewed a separate applicant, Jim Kreidler, and unilaterally promised him a six-month interim contract.
“ If we’re going to really talk about this, we should talk about you conducting your own interview of one candidate circumventing the committee that you set up to do the job... You promised him a six-month contract, he said. You ran your own search independent of the committee that was set up and established. So if you want to talk about improprieties in the search, you should fess up to that.” [00:24:33] — Interim Town Administrator Peter Morin
Kelley adamantly denied promising a contract but asserted his right as an elected official to access all files and contact applicants directly. The back-and-forth escalated until Ring expressed deep insult at Kelley’s dismissal of the volunteer committee’s efforts, leading to a fiery exchange where Kelley told Ring he was “full of crap”.
Seeking to salvage the process, Select Board Chair Rick Smith stepped in to restore order, noting that the town has been entirely without permanent leadership for more than a year. To break the gridlock, Smith proposed a compromise motion to accept the committee’s four finalists while adding Kelley’s preferred candidate, Jim Kreidler, to the interview pool. The board voted 2-0 to approve the expanded five-candidate list and scheduled public interviews to take place over the next two weeks.
Looming $5.6M Level-Services Override Faces Town Meeting
Interim Town Administrator Peter Morin presented three stark financial paths for the upcoming Article 3 budget vote at the June 15 Town Meeting:
Option A (No Override): A bare-minimum $123.99 million budget that will trigger catastrophic school layoffs, programmatic cuts, and reduced municipal operating hours.
Option B ($4 Million Override): A $128.02 million budget that mitigates, but does not eliminate, significant cuts to schools and town departments.
Option C (Level Services): A $129.62 million budget supported by a $5.6 million operational override to maintain current staffing and operations.
