STOCKTON SPRINGS, Maine — After the death of town manager Damaris “Marnie” Diffin last week following a short battle with cancer, selectmen on Thursday appointed an interim town manager to help keep the town going.
“We’re really heartbroken it happened,” Selectman Peter Curley said of Diffin’s death. “She did a phenomenal job. To lose somebody who was really, really good and knew what they were doing — our work is cut out for us down the road.”
Diffin, who began working in Stockton Springs in 2014, previously had served for 15 years as the town manager of Islesboro and for a shorter time as the town administrator and interim town manager in North Yarmouth, according to the Republican Journal.
Selectman Lesley Cosmano called Diffin a “strong leader” who had created a sense of family among municipal employees and a cooperative feeling in the community, that newspaper reported.
Selectmen appointed Loren Cole of Round Pond in Lincoln County to be the interim manager. Cole used to live in Stockton Springs, Curley said, and has been traveling to the Waldo County town a couple days a week to help with town projects.
“He’s very familiar with the workings of the town,” Curley said. “He’s an experienced manager and he’s done a lot for the past six or seven months for our town.”
After making the interim appointment, the selectmen are gearing up to start a search for a new town manager, Curley said.