BANGOR, Maine — This has been a busy year already for Rosie Vanadestine.
Twenty months after being hired as Bangor’s assistant community development director, Vanadestine has her hands full organizing the ambitious Bangor City Council Main Street Corridor project involving the revitalization of the neighborhood bordered by Main, Buck, Third and Union streets.
As of Friday, she’ll add interim community and economic development director to her duties when longtime director Rodney McKay officially retires from the post he has held at least partially for 45 years.
“I’ve been working with her a little over a year and a half now. She’s very capable,” McKay said. “I think I’m leaving things in very capable hands.”
He noted other recent changes in key positions in city government, including Jeremy Martin taking over for longtime code enforcement officer Dan Wellington and the continuing search for a new director for Bangor International Airport.
“We’ve had quite a staff turnover the last two years. Some moved on and others retired, so we had to hire and train new staff,” McKay said. “My management style is to delegate and teach them, knowing full well I’d be moving on.”
Before coming to Bangor, Vanadestine was the economic and community development director for the town of Lisbon for almost three years and Fairfield’s economic and community development planner for a year.
The University of Maine-Augusta graduate will fill in for McKay until a new, permanent replacement for McKay is found in a formal search.