A fresh group of candidates for the newly created position of community development director, including a member of the Board of Selectmen, is undergoing interviews with town officials.

Chairman Galen Stearns has put in his resume for the job, along with 30 other applicants after the town was unable to fill the position earlier this year. At that time selectmen offered the position to three applicants, all of whom turned down the job. Stearns said members of the community approached him after the town was forced to restart its search and asked why he had not sought out the position himself.

“We went through the process once and we did not get anyone to fill position. A large number of people asked me why I didn’t apply,” Stearns said. “I’ve been involved in town government for over 20 years – 16 as a selectman – and I know the town. I know what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Stearns said his experience working with state agencies and members of the local business community in his capacity as an elected official qualified him for the position.

“The selectmen have the overview of the development of the town and where it’s headed,” he said. “I know our goals ... I think I know what we’re looking for in that position.”

Though serving as both a member of the board and as a town employee would not pose any legal problems, Stearns said he could foresee ethical dilemmas arising if he were offered the post. Reporting to the town administrator as the head of a department only to have the town administrator report back to him as an elected official would also be illogical, he said and pledged to step down from the board if offered the position.

According to a statement released by the town, Stearns has already been excluded from all discussion relative to the position and will not sit in on any interviews as a member of the board. He will also be barred from taking part in the candidate selection process.

Town Administrator David Sullivan said the board conducted a first round of interviews between June 15 and 19.

A second round of interviews for three to four finalists will begin sometime after the July 4 holiday, he said.

Selectmen started looking for a community development director after restructuring the town’s planning department and eliminating former planning director Alfred Turner’s position late last year. The move came after an independent review of the department found Turner and his staff to be out of sync with the economic development goals of the board. Though selectmen offered Turner a position as the town’s planner – a demotion for the 12-year town employee – and welcomed him to apply for community development director, he retired earlier this year.