People
(from the August/September 2007 Maine Townsman)

Steven Balboni was named director of parks and recreation for the city of Bath, effective in mid-August. Balboni moves across the river to work, leaving his present job as deputy recreation director for Brunswick.

Ellsworth councilors have named Finance Director Michelle Beal acting city manager following the resignation of Stephen Gunty. Beal previously worked as interim manager following the departure of former manager Timothy King, who stepped down in 2004 after 14 years.

Longtime EMT Arlene Greenleaf of Bethel continues recovering from an accident in early July that killed paramedic Allan Parsons, 46, of Wilton. Greenleaf, 68, was driving the MedCare ambulance that collided with a pick-up truck, which pulled out in front of the emergency vehicle at about 3 a.m. on Route 4 in Turner. Greenleaf is also a veteran member of the Bethel rescue department and a former director.

A recall petition against Falmouth Town Councilor Ann Goggin has been withdrawn by a citizen committee that alleges town officials tried to thwart its free speech rights and other privileges in collecting recall signatures. Town Manager Nathan Poore called the committee’s allegations “pretty serious ... and false.”

Gouldsboro selectmen have voted not to renew the contract of Town Manager Francis Grey Jr. Grey replaced former manager Brad Vassey in February and was hired under a six-month probationary contract. Although selectmen praised Gray’s work ethic and job performance, the majority said Grey was not “the exact fit” the coastal town needed in the long term.

­ Houlton Code Enforcement Officer Wade Hanson has been promoted to director of community development, planning and grant management. Hanson succeeds Don Keiser, who retired in June. Hanson, 38, has worked for the town since 2001.

Judy Hardy-Goddard has accepted the position of general assistance director in Brunswick, but has agreed to continue serving as general assistance director for the town of Lisbon on a part-time contracted basis.

Bath Planning Board Chairman James Harper resigned his post in July after leading the board through a year of difficult, long and intense meetings over waterfront development issues. Harper said he waited until after the issues were resolved through local referendum last November before considering resigning. He thought the board would have time to find a new leader before the next big dispute erupts.

Lisbon businessman Fern LaRochelle Jr. has been appointed to fill the vacancy created when Town Councilor Layne Curtis resigned in June. LaRochelle and two other residents had responded to the council’s call for a replacement until November.

Richmond Code Enforcement Officer Douglas Marble has decided to remain at his job, which has been expanded to full-time following a town meeting vote in June. Marble had resigned in order to work for two towns, Phillips and Embden, for the equivalent of a full-time job. Marble has worked for the town for two years.

Thomas Richmond has been named Dixfield town manager, replacing John Madigan, who handled the manager’s duties for a year in the neighboring towns of Mexico and Dixfield. Richmond was previously town manager in Greene and Steuben. Madigan remains Mexico’s town manager.

Former longtime Bar Harbor Councilor Kenneth Smith has agreed to serve the unfinished council term of Jeff Dobbs, who resigned in June citing family reasons. Smith, a local business man who has served 20 years on the council, said he would finish Dobbs’ term with the understanding he would step down when a new councilor is elected next June.

Priscilla Webb has been named the new finance director for the city of Presque Isle, succeeding Donald “Spike” Savage, who had worked in the position since 1972. Most recently, Webb worked as chief financial officer for First Citizens Bank and before that as a certified public accountant for a private firm. Webb also is a certified internal auditor. The Presque Isle city office was closed for an afternoon in July to accommodate a retirement party for Savage and Sharon Willette, who has worked for the city since graduating from high school in 1966.

­Jana Wood has resigned as code enforcement officer for the town of Lincolnville after four years to accept the CEO job in Dexter, which is closer to her hometown of Corinth.

Oakland D.A.R.E. Officer Harold “Dusty” Woodside has been named 2007 Officer of the Year by the Maine D.A.R.E. Officers’ Association. Woodside was nominated by Police Chief Michael Tracy for his 33 years of service as the Messalonskee school resource officer, where “through his instruction has touched the lives of all his students.”

Among the municipal officials who died recently were Farmington Public Works Director Mitch Boulette, who died July 6 of lung cancer at the age of 60 after serving the town for 23 years; Loreen Colfin, former Waterville city councilor from 1988 to 1991, on July 10 at the age of 59; Donald Larrabee Sr. of Scarborough, a third-generation farmer and volunteer firefighter for more than 45 years, on July 22 at the age of 75; and on August 14, New Gloucester Selectman A. Wayne Cobb, 67, who also served 12 years as town manager resigning in 1987 to become the first executive director of the Mid-Maine Waste Action Corporation in Auburn.