On Oct. 7, the Hanover Selectboard named Robert Houseman the new town manager — the position responsible for managing Town departments and ensuring that Town operations address the needs of residents. Houseman previously spent two months as interim town manager after Alex Torpey stepped down from the position in July. Before stepping into the role, Houseman served as director of the Hanover department of planning, zoning and codes from 2016 to July 2024. In all, Houseman has 38 years of municipal experience across New Hampshire, including as a circuit rider planner in Durham and a cartographer in Wolfeboro. The Dartmouth sat down with Houseman to discuss the local housing crisis, staffing shortages and his plans for Hanover.
You became interim town manager after Alex Torpey stepped down from the position on July 31. How has the transition from interim to permanent town manager been?
RH: I have had the luxury of working for the Town of Hanover for eight years. Over eight years, most staff members get to know the Town department heads well. My colleagues, my team and the Town staff have been exceptionally supportive, and I am grateful for their candor and support.
Now that your position has been made permanent, what are you most looking forward to accomplishing?
RH: The challenges that lie ahead for the Town start with staffing. The goal will be to come up with a staffing plan that really addresses our critical staffing needs. We have vacancies in police, public works, parks and recreation — all of which impact our level of service. I’ll use the example of public works: I am five equipment operators short, which may not seem like a big deal until the snow piles, because they clear the roads.
What steps are you taking to try to mitigate these staffing shortages?
RH: Human Resources and others are pushing hard on improvement. We are looking at how we can attract younger individuals who may not yet have the skill sets that our jobs require, but who we can train. The other big hurdle for us is the regional housing shortage and the associated housing costs. Hanover has a role to play in helping to address the housing shortage, and one of the things that I’m going to be doing is trying to develop Town property for workforce housing. We have a five-acre parcel carved out for that specific purpose, and we’re trying to move that project forward and possibly look at another piece of Town property.
You previously worked in Hanover as the planning, zoning and codes director. How did this experience prepare you for being town manager?
RH: It gave me insight as to how the departments run. We manage a whole host of things in the planning, zoning and codes department. We are the health office, we permit parklets, we regulate business signs — even sandwich board signs. We deal with rental housing and rental housing complaints. We permit all projects. We inspect projects as they are ongoing. That helped me transition quicker into this position. I have regularly attended the monthly Downtown Business Group — a group of businesses in Hanover — meetings over the last few years, so I’m familiar with the concerns and issues with downtown businesses. I happen to be a resident and taxpayer, so I have a perspective as someone who lives here and pays taxes here.
What led you to a career in municipal government?
RH: I have an undergraduate degree in geography with a concentration in cartography from Plymouth State University. That led me to work in a regional planning commission — which is an entity that serves multiple towns — in Wolfeboro, originally as their cartographer. Then I transitioned to their circuit rider planner, helping municipalities that were too small to have planning staff to accomplish their plan. Then I was hired by the town of Durham, N.H. as the circuit rider planner, and there I established the Department of Planning and Codes. Durham is home to the University of New Hampshire, so I gained experience in a college town. It was slightly different because the University of New Hampshire is state-owned and exempt from local control, whereas Dartmouth is private and regulated by the Town.
Hanover is a unique town because so much of its population is involved with the College. Does that pose any challenges to the Town’s government?
RH: I think it creates opportunities. You have your retired College faculty and staff who have been here a long time and who serve the community on various boards as volunteers. Then you have the graduate student population who deal with housing, health and quality of life issues. How can Hanover — where not everybody owns a car — help meet the cultural, social, recreational and shopping needs of the community? One of the ways we do that is by thinking more regionally and supporting Advanced Transit, which is a fare-free transit system now available six days a week.
Then we get into the undergraduates. I will say that the undergraduate relationship with the Town has changed, in part due to some stress. I will single out the COVID-19 pandemic period as the particular stressor. At the onset of COVID-19, the Town’s reaction was very firm, and 18- to 21-year-olds may think differently, and that creates tension. I’m grateful for the efforts of Dartmouth Student Government to work with us to figure out how to communicate and address the undergraduate population as residents of our town. At all times, Hanover as a whole supports the undergraduates as residents. There are some people in this state who would like to restrict what rights college students have, including whether they should be able to vote in-state. Here, the Town of Hanover as a whole does not want to restrict that — at least, that’s my perspective. We embrace the student body as part and parcel of what is Hanover.
What has been your favorite part of the job so far?
RH: I’ve really gotten to learn more about the individuals who work here. We have a unique municipal pool of employees. My code enforcement officer has 25 years of service in the Town. Other employees have 30-plus years. So that’s really special to me. The other part that’s really enjoyable is seeing younger people just starting their careers and finding a home in Hanover and enjoying the work.
One of the unique things about most municipalities is the number of volunteers that help drive the town forward. We have very specific boards — the Selectboard, the planning board, the zoning board, the Conservation Commission, Sustainable Hanover, Hanover Bike Walk. But there’s a whole host of committees and other groups out there. They’re volunteers who dedicate tons of hours and energy moving this town forward and implementing the vision of the master plan. One of the things that brings me great pleasure is being able to work with these volunteers. The Town is blessed with a unique level of human capital.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
