Liese Named Interim Town Administrator

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

June 30th 2025

At a special meeting on June 24, members of the Town Council appointed Town Clerk Erin Liese to the position of Interim Town Administrator.

Liese, who has served as Town Clerk for four years, will temporarily replace the current Town Administrator Karen Pinch, who is retiring on Aug. 1.

Liese said she was looking forward to the new position.

“I’m excited for the opportunity and glad the council had the confidence to appoint me as interim,” she said.

Liese said the staff in the clerk’s office would be filling in for her as she takes on the additional responsibilities.

“I’ll be leaning on my staff,” she said. “Kendra [Tanguay] the Deputy [Clerk] has been here a long time, so she’ll be stepping up.”

Town Council President Samantha Wilcox said Liese was the logical choice to fill the interim position.

“Erin was a good choice for the interim role, given her experience not only in Richmond but also in other communities,” she said in a written statement. “She already works closely with all departments, making for a smooth transition, and she has helped while Karen Pinch was on vacation.

The Search Begins

The Town Council will form a Search Committee at the July 15 meeting. Applications for the committee will be accepted until July 9.

“Interested candidates must submit their applications by July 9th at 4 p.m. to the Town Clerk for council consideration,” Wilcox said. “The opportunity has been advertised through NotifyMe, the town’s notification system.”

Wilcox noted that several people have already shown interest in applying for the job.

“At first, I was concerned it might be difficult to find candidates for Town Administrator, but I’ve already heard from a few people who know someone interested,” she said. “They were eager to learn more about the application process, and I directed them to look out for the Search Committee and formal advertisements. I anticipate a competitive group will apply.”

Pinch said Liese’s knowledge and experience were particularly valuable since there has been a high turnover in town staff and many department heads are new to their positions.

“A lot of our department heads are new, either to municipal government or to Richmond, so Erin was kind of a natural choice with her years of experience in municipal government, both here and she was in Jamestown before she came here and in West Greenwich before that,” she said. “It will certainly make the transition easier for me, to transition somebody who already knows what’s going on here.”

Pinch said she had encouraged the Town Council to meet earlier to confirm Liese’s interim position, allowing for sufficient time to train her.

“Between now and when I leave, I’m trying to loop Erin in on everything I’m doing whether it be via meetings or copying her on emails or sending her to things that I would have gone to, either with or without me,” she said.