City Hires Human Resources Director

Hyattsville has a new human resources director.

After a two-hour-long closed session on Monday, the council returned to open session late in the night and unanimously approved an employment contract with Chris Vermillion, currently the director of human resources for Alpha Corporation, a national construction company with between 200-500 employees. 

Vermillion's contract gives him a $110,000 annual salary plus benefits like health insurance and retirement, according to Mayor Marc Tartaro. His contract has not been released to the media because it has yet to be signed. Hyattsville Patch has submitted a Public Information Act request for the contract. 

Vermillion could not be reached for comment on this article on account of a sudden family emergency. 

More than 60 candidates submitted resumes for the job. whittled down that crowd to a short list of six. After interviews they were further whittled down to a final two, who came in once more for a final set of interviews in the first half of January. 

Tartaro said that both of the final two candidates were more-than-qualified to have taken the job. However, Tartaro says that it came down to a "one point" difference between the two. 

"There was no question," said Tartaro. "Either of the candidates would have been fine. In all these things it just comes down to negotiations and such."

Tartaro said that Vermillion has extensive experience in human resources with companies large and small. Tartaro also said that Vermillion served in the armed forces for a number of years, but he did not have specifics on his service. 

The City Council, citing a need to protect its bargaining position during negotiations, during the selection process.