Three municipalities have recently welcomed new managers. Betsy Fitzgerald took over as Machias town manager in early September. Fitzgerald replaces Christina Therrien, who took the top administrator’s job in Madawaska in May. Fitzgerald worked as code enforcement officer for Vassalboro and Benton before emerging as the top candidate of nine for the Machias job.
The Hallowell City Council promoted David Giroux to manager from his position as CEO by unanimous vote on September 11. Giroux replaced Jim Rhodes.
Thaddeus Jankowski Jr. was named the new city manager of South Portland in mid-September after working 14 years as deputy city manager of Portsmouth, N.H., and nine years as commissioner of assessing for the city of Boston.
Rockland Finance Director Robert Armelin has resigned his position to take a job in his home state of Pennsylvania. He has served as finance director for nearly nine years.
Ella Cressy has joined the town of Fryeburg as its new treasurer, replacing Theresa Shaw, who served the town for nearly 30 years in the position.
Inez Dudley recently ended her 30-year career with the Brunswick Police Department. Dudley was considered a trailblazer for women in law enforcement in Maine and became a mentor to many of the officers who joined the department over the years. Dudley earned the rank of detective before retiring in mid-September. The Bailey Island resident will be honored with a retirement banquet on November 18.
Stephen L. French has been appointed superintendent of the Mechanic Falls Water Department. French, a 20-year employee of the department, has worked as assistant superintendent since 2001.
Wiscasset Town Manager Andrew Gilmore has resigned effective December 31 to take the newly-created job focusing on economic development for the accounting and consulting firm RHR Smith & Co. of Buxton. Gilmore said he was excited to be returning to his “great passion” for economic development.
Saco Police Officer Kevin Gray was honored with the Life-Savings Award for rescuing a man last April from the Main Street Bridge that separates Saco and Biddeford. When the man began to lean forward toward the water, Gray saved him by pulling him down away from the bridge.
Longtime Oxford County Sheriff Alton L. Howe II of Waterford died September 8 at the Maine Veterans Home in Paris at the age of 83. Howe was remembered as “a fine individual, a gentleman and a truly dedicated public servant.” He was elected sheriff in 1972, just two years after beginning his law enforcement career as a Paris officer. He served for 18 straight years.
Camden Librarian Andrea Jackson-Darling has accepted a position with the Falmouth Memorial Library. She will be replaced by Elizabeth Moran, who retired as the library’s director in 2005 after 16 years, but who agreed to take a leave of absence from her work at the Camden Area History Center to serve on an interim basis.
Livermore Falls has welcomed a new code enforcement officer, Kenneth Pratt, who already works as CEO for the towns of Minot, Wales and Wayne. Pratt, a Greene resident, has been enforcing codes in Maine for 11 years.
Aaron Shields is the new town planner for Arundel after serving for six years as assistant town planner in Gorham, where he lives. Shields is presently finishing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Maine.
Former Freeport police officer Darrell Wetherbee, 46, was killed by a sniper while on patrol for a private security firm in Iraq in mid-September. Wetherbee lived in New Gloucester and worked as a Freeport police officer for eight years before taking a job with DynCorp International, a law enforcement and security company based in Virginia. Wetherbee is survived by his wife and three children.
Selectman Whizzer Wheeler whizzed back into office in Waterford in September on the strength of a write-in campaign. Wheeler had resigned as selectman in mid-July after a citizen group launched a campaign to recall the veteran outspoken official. Wheeler received 117 votes in local balloting, far outpacing all three of the announced candidates.
Winthrop Police Chief Joseph Young has been elected president of the New England Association of Chiefs of Police. Young, 55, will take over the top position for the 900-member association – the only regional group of its kind in the nation. Young was recognized for his long service in Maine law enforcement, as well as his dedication to such causes as Special Olympics and The Jimmy Fund.