HOULTON, Maine — The town has turned to a familiar face to be its next town manager.
Police Chief Butch Asselin was unanimously supported as the next municipal leader during Monday night’s town council meeting. Asselin replaces Eugene Conlogue who served as town manager from September 2012 until his abrupt resignation on April 18. Prior to that, Doug Hazlett served as town manager for seven years.
“This is a new challenge for me and I am looking forward to it,” Asselin said. “There were a lot of people involved in helping me make this decision. I feel it is the right choice for me at this time. I’m progressive and hoping for great things to happen for Houlton while I am here.”
Leaving the Houlton Police Department was not an easy decision, he admitted.
“It will take a while,” Asselin said. “I might have to keep a uniform at home just to remind me of what my life was. I was at it for 39 years, but it was time for a change. You have to grasp your opportunities when they come up. I love Houlton and can’t think of a better place to come to work. I think it will work out well for everybody.”
The challenge in becoming a town manager will be similar to when he first became police chief in Skowhegan many years ago.
“I was thrust into the job and had to figure it out,” he said. “Yes I am being put into a position I have never held before, but the advantage of being here is the great staff we have in place.”
Council Chairman Paul Cleary said he was relieved the process was over and that the town had a new person in place that already has a wealth of familiarity with the town of Houlton.
“It’s very nice to be informed now,” Cleary said. “It feels like it’s a team working together again. Over the last three months, it has been refreshing to be on council. We have information now that we were not getting before. We now feel we can make better, informed decisions.”
The appointment leaves the Houlton Police Department without a chief, as Asselin is expected to step down from that post at the next regular council meeting, scheduled for Monday, Aug. 11.
“We will either name an interim at that time or just continue to have Lt. (Dan) Pelletier continue in that role,” Cleary said. “We will advertise for a new police chief. The good thing is, anyone who applies for that position, chances are our new town manager knows them.”
Cleary did acknowledge that the council, and new manager, may receive some criticism on the hiring, but he felt in the long run it was worth it.
“When we first went in to this and we appointed Butch as the interim, he did not want to be the town manager,” Cleary said. “We all agreed his appointment, at that time, was going to be a quick fix.”
The town advertised the vacancy twice and received 31 applicants.
“About 20 of them should not have applied,” Cleary said. “Eleven of them were decent. We cut that list down to five for interviews, but two of them found jobs elsewhere before we had a chance.”
That left Asselin and two others as candidates for the position. Cleary said Asselin rose to the top of that short list, despite not having any experience as a full-time town manager.
“The one thing about Chief is, he has worked in town governments for 39 years, but it hasn’t been as a town manager,” Cleary said. “However, in the three months he has served as our interim, he has shown he is willing to learn. He is not set in his ways.”
Another topic some may criticize is the council previously stated its desire was for the next town manager to reside in Houlton. Asselin lives in neighboring New Limerick and therefore does not pay taxes in Houlton.
“Chief lives a half-mile out of town,” Cleary said. “He spends his money in town. He shops here. He goes to everything. He is part of every event that goes on here in town. Since serving as interim, he has been at every town function we have had.”
Asselin will get a $6,347 raise in his new position, going from a salary of $71,000 to $77,347. Conlogue was paid $83,000 per year, but also had more than 24 years of experience. Since Asselin has been with the town for the past seven years, Cleary said there would not be any probationary period.
“We will meet in a month to discuss long-term goals for the town, so we can all get on the same page,” Cleary said.
Asselin began his career in law enforcement in 1975 as a patrol officer with the Skowhegan Police Department. He worked his way up through the ranks and was named Skowhegan’s chief in 1997, a position he held for 10 years.
In 2007, Asselin decided a change was in order and decided to relocate to southern Aroostook County, where he was named chief of the Houlton Police Department. During his time in Houlton, he has been instrumental in instituting many community programs and has helped mold the HPD into a progressive agency. He is actively involved in many efforts countywide, one of which is helping to develop the first task force in Aroostook County on domestic violence and sexual assault.
The Maine Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA) lauded Asselin in February 2013 by presenting him with the Chief of the Year award. He also received that group’s “President’s Award” in September 2012.
The appointment of Asselin will not affect his wife’s municipal position. Lauren Asselin has been a tax collector for Houlton since January 2008. In years past, the town had a nepotism policy in place that prevented the hiring of any individual who would have a supervisory role over a family member. However, the council changed its personnel policy in 2012 to allow family members to be hired, provided they receive specific consent from the board.
