Oak Bluffs interim town administrator Robert Whritenour got a big vote of confidence from the town selectmen this week. Selectmen have been preparing to begin the search for a permanent town administrator, but on Tuesday selectman Mike Santoro wondered aloud why the board would even bother looking elsewhere given Mr. Whritenour’s early performance.

“Do we really need a search committee?” he asked. “I think we have someone here already that can do the job. We’ve been making great strides, we’re moving forward and I’ve been talking to some employees and to people in town and everyone seems to think we’re moving forward again. I just would love to keep this going . . . . I think we’re very lucky that it fell in our lap to have someone like Bob who came forward. Do we really need to go through this whole process right now?”

Mr. Whritenhour began the job four weeks ago and has expressed interest in the permanent position. He is a former Falmouth town manager and Mashpee town administrator.

Selectman Walter Vail agreed, but only up to a point. “I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from everyone I’ve talked to which is just terrific,” Mr. Vail said. “But I do think it’s our responsibility to make sure we’ve covered all our bases. I hate to go through the process and it would be great to take the shortcut but I don’t think that’s the right way for us to go.”

Last week selectmen discussed a protracted screening process for candidates for the permanent position that would include a screening committee with representatives from the finance committee, personnel board, school committee, a selectmen’s appointee, a representative from the NAACP and a summer resident, but on Tuesday selectman Greg Coogan suggested that the town streamline its search by reducing the screening committee to three people selected by the board, and by pushing up the timetable for naming a new town administrator, one that would have originally stretched until around Christmas.

“I think tying the board up and tying [Mr. Whriternour] up and keeping him with a question in his mind is not in our best interest,” Mr. Coogan said. “If we can I’d like to have this done before Thanksgiving.”

The board agreed to allow selectmen Gail Barmakian and Walter Vail select three names for a screening committee by Monday.

Selectmen Kathy Burton echoed the encomiums of her fellow board members.

“I have to say I’m thoroughly thrilled to work with Bob, I feel like he’s the knight in shining armor,” she said. “It’s absolutely wonderful. I have complete confidence in what he’s doing. He knows what he’s talking about, he’s a pleasure to work with and I think you’d find that across the board. But I’m conflicted too because I do what I say I’m going to do and we said we were going to do [a thorough search for a permanent town administrator], but I think Bob should be a given in the final scenario when we have the final candidates.”

In the coming weeks the board will advertise for the position and accept resumes until Nov. 1. The screening committee will review resumes and interview candidates in November and selectmen hope to name someone by early December.

On Tuesday Mr. Whitenour provided selectmen a two-page summary of his activities in recent weeks which included attending a department head meeting earlier in the day. Highway superintendant Richie Combra Jr. spoke to that meeting.

“I’d just like to say that . . . it was the best department head meeting I’ve ever attended,” said Mr. Combra, who has worked for the town for 22 years and served as its highway superintendant for 10.

“All the employees attended today which is a first since I’ve been a department head and the way Bob ran the meeting and the way he presented the information to everybody and the direction that he pointed everybody has really given me an excitement for where this town is going,” he said.

His comments drew applause.

Also on Tuesday selectmen denied landscaper Edno Carlos Miller’s request for a special permit to store landscaping equipment at his home on Leslie’s Lane. Mr. Miller had been storing several trucks and piles of landscaping material on his property; selectmen have received complaints from 15 abutters and neighborhood residents. Mr. Miller said he was unaware of the complaints and that the noise they had been hearing lately had been due to renovations taking place at his house, but selectmen were unmoved.

“I worry personally about precedent,” said Ms. Burton. “I always worry about precedent because I worry if you permit this then how are we going to not permit all of the other businesses that are trying to do the same thing.”

The board voted unanimously to deny the request but the issue sparked a discussion about the need for more off-site parking on town property for businesses such as Mr. Miller’s.

Selectmen also voted to set Nov. 8 as the date for a fall special town meeting.