HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Town Council appointed a veteran employee to lead the town until a new town manager takes on the role.
The council’s priorities for Nancy Ketch, director of community development, include focusing on staff, maintaining stability, addressing multiple staff vacancies and looking at some of the projects stalled by the town’s recent upheaval.
Ketch’s expertise and relationships with municipal staff and community and business leaders will help the town move forward following a tumultuous year.
“I appreciate the confidence the council has put in me,” Ketch said. “We have had a lot of transitions and uncertainties, really for the last couple of years, and [it’s important] to just have people feel like there is some stability. If I’m going to be here, I’d like to be part of the solution.”
Ketch, who will be paid $56.51 hourly in the interim — an amount that includes additional compensation for the town manager responsibilities — has secured a long list of municipal, state, federal and community grants for the town and has helped put the rural Aroostook County town on the map.
Her national planning role for the 2024 total solar eclipse and her work with Maine Street America and GrowSmart Maine has pushed the town into the national spotlight. Earlier this year, Houlton received the Governor’s Rising Star Award from the Governor’s Council on Tourism for its well-orchestrated eclipse celebration, which attracted thousands of people from around the world.
Ketch, who has worked for the town for 11 years, was previously the executive director of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce for 13 years, she said.
Ever since former town manager Marian Anderson resigned in August 2023 after five years on the job, the town has gone through a string of interim managers and two permanent town managers who vacated their roles months after their appointments.
When Anderson left her municipal slot, Houlton Chief of Police Tim DeLuca was appointed interim town manager for several months before the Town Council hired Jeremy Smith, a New Mexico man, in April 2024.
Smith resigned suddenly barely eight months later, again leaving the town without a leader at the helm. Houlton entrepreneur Cameron Clark was appointed interim town manager in January 2025, with a permanent appointment in April.
During Clark’s short tenure, the town came under fire for their controversial surveillance camera system and multiple court challenges tied to the release of public records. And in September, while giving Gov. Janet Mills a town tour, Clark was arrested and jailed on felony victim tampering and misdemeanor domestic assault charges.
The Town Council initially chose to keep Clark on the job, but unrest reached a boiling point when three municipal departments declared loss of confidence in leadership and a group of citizens took steps to oust councilors.
Councilors Jon McLaughlin and Alexis Brown resigned because they did not agree with the council’s decision to keep Clark on the job.
Clark was placed on administrative leave in October, then Council Chairperson Jane Torres and Councilors Jim Peters and Erin Matthews resigned, effectively leaving the town without a governing body. Two councilors, Eileen McLaughlin and Edward Lake, remained.
After the November elections and several councilor appointments, the council is back to a full complement with all seven members.
In December, the council terminated Clark’s contract.
Town Clerk Khylee Wampler took on the role of assistant town manager, along with multiple other duties to help hold things together in October after Clark was placed on leave.
With Ketch’s appointment, town officials are hoping they can begin to move ahead as she focuses internally, she said.
“Sometimes it’s [easier] to have an internal person maintain some continuity before a new person comes, rather than somebody new for a few months and then somebody else new,” said Ketch, who will juggle the town manager duties and her community development role in the interim.
Since she took over the reins on Jan. 15, Ketch has talked with department heads and other staff and they have already had some good collaborations, she said.
“I’ve spoken to all of them just in terms of ‘Is there anything I can do to alleviate stress?’” Ketch said. “I asked them to share with their staff that I’m here if somebody needs something.”
On Monday night, Council Chairman Lake thanked Wampler for all the work she did over the past few months, including heading the Nov. 6 elections, overseeing the 2026 budget process and filing multiple roles created by resignations.
The search for a permanent town manager is slated to begin soon, Ketch said.