CARIBOU, Maine — Aroostook County’s finance director will temporarily take the reins from County Administrator Ryan Pelletier after the new year until a new administrator is named.
The Aroostook County Commissioners have appointed Dana Gendreau as interim county administrator, effective Jan. 5, with an annual salary of $121,465.
Gendreau has served as the county finance director for more than five years, providing leadership over county budgeting, financial planning, internal controls, and fiscal oversight, according to Pelletier.
As interim administrator, Gendreau will oversee the day-to-day county operations and work closely with the commissioners and department leadership to ensure continuity of services during the transition period.
The county charter requires an administrator, even to fill a temporary gap, for such tasks as signing contracts or memorandums of understanding and daily oversight of the county’s departments, Pelletier said Friday.
The commissioners advertised for an administrator earlier this year and have already gone through several rounds of interviews of prospective candidates.
“They are close to making a decision,” Pelletier said. “They will likely make an announcement in January.“
This is not the first time Pelletier and Gendreau have worked together. While he was town manager in Madawaska, he hired her as the finance director.
“And when I left and an opening happened in the county, I was fortunate enough to hire her here,” he said.
In October, Pelletier announced his Jan. 2 resignation to take on a new role as Saco’s City Administrator. Pelletier was selected following a competitive hiring process among a pool of more than 70 applicants, according to the Saco mayor’s office.
His three-year contract with the southern Maine city begins on Jan. 5, 2026, with an annual salary of $185,000.
When Pelletier came from local government to county administration in 2017, he set out to develop better regional cooperation among municipalities. His legacy includes a countywide law enforcement records management system for the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office and all local police departments and regional GIS mapping, he said.
While Pelletier got several other large county projects off the ground, the new administrator will have to see them to completion, he said. These projects include a new Aroostook jail and the development of a new county charter.
In January, the commissioners will establish a charter commission and it will take about 18 months to two years to develop the new charter, Pelletier said.