City Councilor Gary Groves is planning to take a job as athletic director for Westbrook’s schools and won’t be seeking re-election to his seat on the City Council because of the new job.

Groves, a graduate of Westbrook High School, said he has signed a contract with School Superintendent Stan Sawyer this week to take the job that was vacated when former Athletic Director Matt Nelson was tapped to fill an assistant principal’s slot at the high school.

Groves, who is finishing up his first term on the council, said he was thrilled to be taking a job at his old high school. “I just felt it was a great opportunity to come back home,” Groves said. “I’m just really fired up about it.”

Sawyer said he was pleased to have Groves as part of the Westbrook School Department. “I think it was an excellent choice,” Sawyer said. “He has a great reputation as an athletic administrator.”

While he was happy in Portland, Groves said the chance to come back to Westbrook was too good for him to pass up. “I wouldn’t have been interested in any other athletic director’s job,” Groves said. “It was emotional because I made some great relationships in Portland. But what an opportunity to come back to Westbrook.”

While Groves has signed a contract with Westbrook, he is not sure when he will be starting here. He said he has a clause in his contract with Portland that requires him to give at least 30 days notice before leaving. He is now talking with Portland school administrators to determine when he can begin working in Westbrook.

Groves’ status on the council also needs to be determined. He said he does not plan to run for reelection when his term expires at the end of this year, but he would like to finish out the term, if possible.

“I’m going to see about finishing my term,” Groves said. “If I need to resign, I certainly will.”

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said he is seeking an opinion from the city solicitor on whether or not Groves would have to resign.

City Council President Jim Violette said he has told Groves he doesn’t think it would be necessary for him to step down from the council before his term runs out. He said because the council has already passed the school budget for 2005-2006, he doesn’t feel the council would be faced with any votes on school matters between now and the end of the year.

“My initial feeling is there’s really no conflict because we’ve already approved the budget for the school,” Violette said. If for some reason, the council was faced with a school vote, Violette said Groves could simply abstain from voting on the issue.

Because there is such a short time between now and the end of the year, Violette said he didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask Groves to step down and have the Westbrook Republican City Committee be in a position where someone would need to be nominated to fill out the rest of Groves’ term.

“Having someone in there for a month or two wouldn’t be appropriate,” Violette said.

Gary Grove

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