Stefan Pakulski, former town manager of Readfield, is Hallowell’s new city manager.

City councilors voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire Pakulski, 56, of Wayne, who served as Readfield’s manager from 2003 until he resigned in February.

Pakulski will start Monday and will work alongside Michael Starn, the current manager, for three weeks until Starn’s retirement Oct. 2, according to Mayor Mark Walker.

Pakulski and the city agreed to a three-year contract that will pay him $67,028 a year, according to Starn.

“It’s a great small city in central Maine, unlike any other place around, and I’m looking forward to getting involved, meeting all the folks there and I think it’s a great opportunity,” Pakulski said Wednesday. “I’ve observed the City Council in action. They seem to have a good working process together, and they work effectively to address the concerns of citizens and also the long term objectives of the city. Those things are attractive to me as a manager.”

The city received 13 applications in what was its second effort at finding a new manager to take Starn’s spot. In July, Daniel Merhalski, then Denmark’s town manager, backed out of the job about a week after city officials said they planned to hire him. He said another job offer had come up.

Pakulski did not apply for the job the first time around, but decided to seek it after Merhalski declined to take the job.

“I think having a healthy time away from local government helped, frankly,” Pakulski said of why he applied for the job after not doing so when it first opened up in February. “It gave me time to gain perspective on where I’ve been, what a lot of my interests and strengths are. This is a good opportunity that opened up.”

Pakulski resigned from the Readfield job in February; though the Select Board there initially voted against accepting his resignation. Last year, the Readfield board had voted 3-1 to renew his contract despite the town receiving an “opinion survey” with the signatures of 153 people who didn’t want his contract renewed.

While acknowledging the Readfield job had its challenges, especially over the last year or so as new town officials came into leadership, Pakulski said, “It was nothing but a terrific experience there, overall. Leadership changes are one of the facts of municipal government. Sometimes people who are left over, like me, become not what the new people are looking for.”

 

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