HERMON, Maine — With Town Manager Clint Deschene heading to his new job in Auburn, town councilors here have entered agreements that will provide them an interim manager and help finding their next one.
Town Council Chairman Timothy McCluskey said that town councilors tapped the law firm Eaton Peabody earlier this week to provide interim managerial services for three months or until a qualified candidate is found.
The interim manager assigned to Hermon is Roger Raymond, who retired as Bucksport’s town manager and treasurer in late April after having served in that capacity for 27 years, McCluskey said.
Raymond, who joined Eaton Peabody Consulting Group after his retirement, will begin working in Hermon at the beginning of next week, McCluskey said. Raymond is scheduled to be at the town office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Raymond works for the town of Milo, which lost its manager in early April, when Jeffrey Gahagan abruptly resigned amidst an investigation into allegations that $45,000 was missing from a local club for whom he was treasurer.
McCluskey said Raymond’s long tenure in Bucksport was a testament to his abilities and his strengths, chief among them his financial acumen and sound management principles. These qualities, he said, have been keys to his success and earned him the respect of his colleagues.
Before he was hired as Bucksport’s manager, Raymond served as Eagle Lake’s town manager, tax collector and treasurer.
With regard to the search for Deschene’s successor, McCluskey said the council has entered an agreement with Starbird Leadership Consulting, an affiliate of Rudman Winchell, to do the legwork needed to find a qualified candidate.
According to McCluskey, the Starbird consultant assigned to the Hermon manager search is Rosemary Loring. He said Loring has a long history of matching communities with vacant managerial positions with qualified professionals.
“The council met with the consultant for the first time on May 29 to exchange thoughts, ideas and expectations for the incoming replacement manager and to lay the groundwork for the candidate search and hiring process,” he said.
Loring ran her own staffing firm for 14 years before joining Rudman Winchell and Starboard, he said. In that capacity, Loring recruited and placed candidates for clients in a variety of industries, with positions ranging from entry- to high-level management.
The town’s legal counsel, Edmond Bearor, is working with Loring to ensure the candidate suits the needs of residents, staff and town councilors.
I really hope that they find a competent replacement. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be at a better price than Clint was asking for in the first place. I think that if we geta replacement that will be as good as Clint it will cost us a bit more than the council expects. Personally I think the council has let the town down in this regard.
The Council’s only screw up was believe him when he said he loved Hermon and wanted to raise a family here. He has been hunting for another job for years! I can’t blame him for wanting to expand his resume but you cannot blame the council for his (Clint’s) choices!
If he was able to make a decent living here he would have gladly stayed. You really have no idea what you are talking about.
My hat is off to the Council for taking a highly professional approach to searching for a replacement manager and appointing an experienced interim manager.
I agree this will cost hermon dearly all because of about 3or4 trouble makers
Clint is the one who continued to job seek after telling the council he loved Hermon and wanted to raise his family here. He wanted to expand his resume, who could blame him? None of us, he is young and is trying to establish a name for himself but to blame others for his choices, Wrong on so many levels!
Clint continued to job seek because the council would not pay a manager wage. There will be a rude awakening when they find the cost for a replacement, unless they just hire someone without the needed experience to replace him.
Bangor did a national tour to fined a city manager and then looked up the road about 10 miles and found one. Joe Wardwell would make a great town manager. Great guy!!!!!
Being a retired mgr must be nice amkeat your retirement and couple days here couple days there a ching and you don’t have to deal deal with same idiots very long