Denise Gibbs has been hired as Winterport’s new town manager, starting next Monday. Gibbs resigned from her job as town administrator for East Millinocket in late January.
Winterport’s Town Council voted unanimously to approve Gibbs’s appointment at its meeting on Tuesday.
Forty people applied for the town manager job, said Town Council chair Steven Clisham, and two people were interviewed.
Gibbs was chosen because she “had the municipal experience we’re looking for,” Clisham said.
“I have an open door policy, I’m very transparent, and I’m very fair,” Gibbs said, addressing the council and public after the vote.
In her previous role in East Millinocket, Gibbs clashed with Selectman Mike Michaud, a former congressman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
In her resignation letter dated Jan. 30 Gibbs did not mention Michaud by name but wrote that she had experienced “repeated improper interference in operational decision-making, personnel administration, and staff direction, including actions that undermine chain of command and the professional independence necessary to carry out the Town Administrator’s responsibilities.”
Winterport’s former Town Manager Casey Ashey’s contract was not renewed last year and expired in January. Joseph Hayes has been serving as interim town manager since early February.