After nearly two years of leadership upheaval, the town of Houlton hired a former Sagadahoc County administrator to lead the Aroostook County town of 6,000, following a unanimous Town Council vote on Monday night.
Amber Jones, with over a decade of experience in public administration, human resources, and payroll management, will take the town manager reins on Sept. 28, at a salary of $120,000.
“I believe everybody is going to be really pleased with the choice we made,” said Council Chairman Ed Lake. “She is a very intelligent woman. I think she’s really going to help this town move forward.”
Jones, who has lived in Bath for 12 years, is excited to move north with her daughter Penda, she said earlier Monday.
“I grew up in Boothbay Harbor and what I was looking for in my next municipal management job was to find a town that was really close knit,” Jones said. “I really feel like I found that in Houlton.”
Her professional journey includes nearly five years as county administrator at Sagadahoc County, town administrator for the Town of Phippsburg for five years as well as a stint as payroll administrator for 200 employees with Mölnlycke Healthcare on the Brunswick Landing.
Her first municipal position was actually in the Boothbay town office where she worked for seven years.
“These roles allowed me to lead effectively while managing complex municipal operations,” she said.
Houlton has had its share of challenges in the past two years, following the 2024 resignation of Town Manager Marian Anderson after five years on the job.
In Anderson’s absence, Houlton Chief of Police Tim DeLuca served as interim town manager. After a nearly seven-month search, the Town Council hired Jeremy Smith who made a cross-country move from Los Alamos, New Mexico. But Smith was only in the top municipal post for eight months, resigning unexpectedly in January 2025.
Houlton entrepreneur Cameron Clark, initially hired as interim town manager shortly after Smith’s departure, was officially appointed to the post in April 2025. Five months into his term, Clark was arrested and jailed for felony Class B tampering with a victim and Class D domestic violence assault. A grand jury in December indicted Clark on those counts, plus a third charge, felony Class C obstructing criminal prosecution.
He was placed on administrative leave in October and dismissed from the post in December.
In April, as part of a plea agreement, the three counts against Clark were dismissed and replaced by a fourth count of misdemeanor obstruction of criminal prosecution, to which he pleaded no contest.
The town’s community development director, Nancy Ketch, is currently serving as the interim town manager until Jones arrives later this month.
The town first attempted to hire a town manager on their own and had about 20 applicants. But turned the search over to Maine Municipal Association this summer, according to Ketch.
Jones said that what is unique about her leadership experience is that she has had a real focus on bringing sustainability to organizations.
“That can be done on a few different fronts at the same time and I think that is going to restore trust which is one of the main goals of the first year,” she said. “I will be engaging a lot of people, and taking a lot of information in, observing and working internally for the first six months.”
Jones said there are several policies to be reviewed and she plans to also focus on streamlining internal processes.
Additionally, she would like to explore ways to engage informally with the community outside of council meetings. In previous roles, she has championed transparency and doing things in a transparent way, she said.
“I so look forward to having Amber join us as our town manager on the 28th,” said Councilor Sue Tortello. “I hope you will all be as impressed with her as we are.”
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