New Town Administrator to Start in June

May 4, 2018

Derik Goodine, 49, of Brewer, Maine was offered the post of Town Administrator (TA) after the Selectmen had searched through 25 candidate resumes and then interviewed five of the top tier candidates a few weeks ago.

Mr. Goodine accepted a three-year contract at $80,246/yr. compared to Mr. Mulholland's $84,148. One might say that town administrators seem to be getting as expensive as school superintendents. A January 2018 survey by Indeed.com showed the average town manager salary in New Hampshire was $97,721, which was 22% above the national average.

The Selectmen still needs to approve the deal, possibly at their May 7th Board meeting. Once that is done, an early June start date is expected.

Mr. Goodine has over 20 years experience in municipal administration in Maine, having worked as town manager or other administration positions in Naples for 10 years, Buckport for one year, and Oxford for six months -- all towns in the Portland, Lewiston, and Augusta region. It is not known where he worked for the rest of the 20+ years and what feedback his former employers gave to Allenstown Selectmen.

He plans to continue his habit of finding an affordable home in the town where he works. Based on the proposed salary, there should be no problem affording a home in town. It's the many older residents living on fixed incomes that are stuggling to afford their homes.

He was quoted as saying, "My specialty is building quality of life ... and promoting the tourist industry."

There will be another transition period as Michael Stark, the Interim TA, trains Mr. Goodine on the day to day operations of town hall and interacting with the Selectmen and department heads. Mr. Stark plans to eventually return to his post as Police Dept. Lieutenant. We should all thank him for his commendable service during this transition period.

What You Can Do

Welcome Mr. Goodine once he arrives. The coming months will be a time for town officials and employees to develop working relationships with the new TA. Residents will also get to interact him at Selectmen's meetings and elsewhere. Let us hope this develops into a long-term position.

Also, you should stress to him that tourism is fine but Allenstown needs to attract more businesses to help reduce property taxes.