Interim manager wants a leader who will help Limestone keep its footing

LIMESTONE, Maine — When Alan Mulherin took the job as yet another interim town manager for Limestone nearly a year ago, he didn’t know how long he might stay.

But he knew he needed to help break a harmful cycle of management turnover.

After former manager Donna Bernier retired in 2015, newly hired manager Fred Ventresco stayed less than two years , which began a revolving door of 12 more managers in the last nine years, including seven temporary managers who filled a void while the selectboard looked for someone new.

As the latest interim, Mulherin has uncovered long-standing financial problems and helped elected officials combat a history of micromanaging town departments, all in pursuit of a more stable future.

“We needed to stop this rotating-door syndrome we had [with town managers], change the make-up of the selectboard and start working together,” Mulherin said.

Limestone officials say Mulherin has brought more stability to town government and daily operations, but now he’s preparing to leave within the next year. That leaves the town with another dilemma: finding someone to replace Mulherin and keep the community on course.

Mulherin was in a unique position from the start. He was elected to the selectboard in June 2023, then became interim manager only two months later when Alvin Lam, whom the town hired as manager in June , stepped down.

Mulherin’s accounting background served him well as he realized just how badly recent employee turnover has affected the town’s finances.

While working on the town’s 2022 financial audit this year – two years late – accounting firm RHR Smith and Mulherin found that the books had not been properly balanced since 2009, resulting in a $2.5 million deficit within its accounting records.

Eight accounts within the town’s “general fund,” a category within the fiscal year budget for special revenues (e.g. Trafton Lake Campground), did not have the correct total of funds recorded, Mulherin said.

“[For example, the records said] we had roughly $119,000 in the town revaluation reserve account, but after adjustments [done through the audit] we’re actually at $50,000. Public Works’ reserve account has $485,000, not $200,000,” Mulherin said. “We had to get those accounts balanced with what we actually have in the bank.”

Mulherin is still working to get all the town’s accounts balanced and hopes to start the town’s 2023 audit by the end of this year, and finish 2024 by June 2025.

In total, the town has nearly $1.5 million spread out between three local banks and has enough to keep expenses below the budget that residents approved at the annual town meeting in June, Mulherin said.

But the financial discrepancies are the result of employee turnover that goes beyond the town managers.

Since 2015, 21 town office employees, including clerks, deputy clerks, tax collectors, treasurers, registrars and assistants to those roles have come and gone. Typically the town treasurer oversees the financial records.

Mulherin has not spoken with past managers or employees about what might have gone wrong, but he and selectboard members suspect that past micromanagement from the board turned away good employees. On top of that, the management turnover resulted in less oversight of office workers.

“Nobody was being held accountable in the past,” said Randy Brooker, Limestone’s current selectboard chairperson. “I had only heard rumors before, but then after getting on the board [in 2022], I knew what was going on.”

Within the last year, Mulherin has established clear lines between the board, whose role is to create and enact town policies, and the town manager, who supervises town office and departmental employees and oversees daily operations, Brooker noted.

In past years, a board member might have gone to a department head if a resident complained or brought up concerns, but now board members know to direct residents to the manager, Mulherin said.

Town department turnover, which also had been occurring within Public Works and Recreation, has also stabilized. Recreation just hired its first full-time director in two years, and Public Works is also fully staffed for the first time within that same period. The current town clerk and deputy clerk have been in their positions since December and April 2023, respectively.

“Alan has brought back a lot of structure. People know what their jobs are and what they’re supposed to do,” Brooker said.

There remains the question of who will replace Mulherin and lead the town down a more long-term path of stability. Mulherin has been officially retired since 2020 after a 35-year career in civil service and said he always saw his current job as temporary.

Mulherin said he intends to leave in June 2025 but will help lead the search for his replacement. Ideally, he wants to begin advertising in late December or early January and aim to hire someone before the next fiscal year begins in July. By then, Mulherin wants to have caught up on the town’s audits and financial reconciliations.

Though someone with municipal experience is still ideal, Mulherin and Brooker agree that a new manager should have at least a financial and/or general management background.

Residents have already approved a future starting salary of $100,000. Mulherin thinks that total could be negotiated down but needs to reflect what many Maine towns, including Madawaska and Houlton , are paying their new managers. Mulherin currently is earning $82,400 for his position.

“If we don’t compete with other towns statewide, we’re not going to get quality people,” Mulherin said. “There’s a limited field of people who want to be town managers.”