BAR HARBOR, Maine — With the resignation this week of the longtime town manager, the elected Town Council will have to determine who will serve as the top administrator.
Ruth Eveland, chairman of the Town Council, said Wednesday that the seven-member panel is expected to meet soon to discuss possible appointments for an interim town manager.
According to Pat Gray, Bar Harbor’s town clerk, the Town Council is expected to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, for that purpose.
Town Manager Dana Reed announced earlier this week that he had reached a separation agreement with the town. His last day working in the office was Thursday.
The separation agreement calls for Reed to be paid a total of $110,669 in the form of regular and deferred compensation and in contributions to his retirement health savings account.
Reed has served as Bar Harbor’s town manager since November 1986. His departure came as many local residents, citing Reed’s 27 years in the position, raised objections to his contract being renewed. Much of the recent criticism of Reed has come about since he placed former police chief Nate Young on paid leave and then fired him.
Eveland said that, until an interim town manager is named, department heads will be in charge of their respective departments. She added that should a major issue arise prior to the appointment of an interim town manager, she as council chairman would be available to discuss and possibly make a decision on whatever it might be.
Eveland is expected to be council chairman only for another month as she has decided not to seek re-election on June 10. Christopher Walsh, another incumbent, is seeking re-election, but Councilor Bob Garland is not. In all, six people are running for three available seats on the board.
At least two of those candidates — Joseph “Tom” Burton and Jefferson Dobbs, both former councilors — have been highly critical of how Reed handled Young’s termination. Critics who have pushed for Reed’s ouster on a Facebook page called “Citizens for a Better Bar Harbor” have said Young’s firing is not the only reason they felt a change in town manager was needed.
Young was accused of driving while drunk in a Sept. 25 incident and of pressuring officers who looked into the matter to drop it. Young, who denies the allegations and unsuccessfully appealed his firing to the Town Council, has filed a federal lawsuit against the town.
Gary Friedman, vice-chairman of the Town Council, said Friday that an interim town manager should be appointed by the time councilors choose a new chairman on June 11, the day after the election. Friedman, whose term ends in 2015, said the Town Council also is expected to discuss plans for a new town manager search at next week’s meeting.
Friedman added that, at next month’s annual town meeting, voters will be asked to approve the creation of a new assistant town manager position that would oversee human resources and would supervise planning, economic development and code enforcement offices. Having an assistant town manager, he added, would be useful in situations where the town manager is unavailable because he or she is on vacation or medical leave or absent for some other reason.
Friedman also said voters will be asked to re-fund the former town planner position, which has been vacant since July 2011, when Anne Krieg resigned the position after being placed on administrative leave. Town officials and Krieg, who received $84,500 in severance pay, did not publicly comment on why she was placed on leave and then resigned.
In addition to the departures this year of Young and Reed, another longtime town employee is expected to leave her post. Pat Gray, who has been Bar Harbor’s town clerk since 1999, has indicated she plans to step down at the end of May.
