BRUNSWICK

The search committee charged with finding Brunswick’s next town manager has narrowed the field of applicants to two. The finalists are current Brunswick Finance Director and Interim Town Manager John Eldridge and Presque Isle City Manager Jim Bennett.

“There’s a pretty straight forward reason for me to come to Brunswick — it’s a tremendous career opportunity,” Bennett said. “What’s also important is my wife is a Brunswick native and a graduate from Brunswick High School. I’m originally from Lisbon. … Our daughter is a student at Bowdoin.”

Bennett said his family “would really like to go to a community we know and appreciate.”

Bennett’s previous experience includes: Dixfield town manager (1986- 1988), New Gloucester town manager (1988-1990), Old Orchard Beach town manager (1990-1997), Westbrook city administrator (1997-2002) and Lewiston city administrator (2002-2009).

According to a 2009 article in the Sun Journal, Bennett in Lewiston “oversaw the development of the city’s gateways, the expansion of the Wal-Mart distribution center, downtown renovations, industrial parks and other investments that led the city, in partnership with Auburn, to lead economic development in the state twice in the past eight years.”

However, Bennett’s contract was bought out by the Lewiston City Council after a split 3-2 vote in 2009 after an apparent rift between him and the council, according to the Sun Journal.

“From an economic development standpoint, I’ve had great success in other communities I’ve worked in,” said Bennett. “Having been in the town manager’s seat and having worked through some challenging economic times, and finding ways to do that without raising people’s property taxes is something I’ve done for almost 25 years.”

Bennett noted that he and Eldridge for, the last 20 years, have been teaching a budgeting class together for the Maine Municipal Association.

“No matter which choice is made, the town will be well served,” said Bennett.

Eldridge has been the town’s finance director for 26 years and has been serving as interim manager since February, when he took over for Gary Brown, whose tenure was truncated by a couple of months by the council.

At the time, Eldridge said he probably wouldn’t apply for the position, but on Tuesday said he wanted to see through projects he has since been working on for the town. Those projects include strategic, long-range financial planning, new facilities management planning, and economic development at Brunswick Landing and the Cook’s Corner area.

Eldridge said he also wants to work on resolving the town’s issues with its landfill, which may close sooner than originally intended.

Before being hired as the town’s finance director in 1988, Eldridge’s previous management experience included: Bradley town manager (1978-1981) and South Berwick town manager (1981-1986). Eldridge said he worked for two years at an engineering firm before being hired in Brunswick.

“When I came here, it was no secret that the town’s finances and its financial reporting and record keeping were really a mess,” Eldridge said, adding that he rebuilt the finance department into one that has been “consistently recognized” for its work.

Should he be hired as town manager, Eldridge said the town will need to find a new finance director, saying that it’s “not sustainable” to perform both jobs full-time.

“Brunswick is a great community. It certainly has its challenges, but I can say the councils I’ve known over the years have been very supportive of me personally,” Eldridge said, noting that his children have gone through the Brunswick school system. “I’d like to finish my career here and give back a little bit.”

The finalists were announced by Town Council Chairman Benet Pols on his blog, after the council met Monday night in executive session to discuss the town manager search.

“I’m not going to speak for myself because there’s a process we still have to go through,” Pols said in an interview Tuesday. “I haven’t drawn a final conclusion. I don’t want to overemphasize any qualities of these two or the three picked, because there’s a process to go through.”

A third finalist “recently withdrew his application due to changing circumstances in the city where he is currently employed,” Pols wrote.

An applicant pool of 49 candidates was narrowed down to six who were interviewed by the council in July. All six were in municipal management positions in New England communities, with three from Maine.

“All six we interviewed were well qualified and well experienced,” Pols said. “They brought a lot to the table.”

In his blog, Pols wrote that “MMA is conducting background checks on the finalists including criminal records and reference checks.”

Pols said the finalists will be touring the community and meeting with department heads. In what Pols described as an “open house,” there will be an opportunity to meet with citizens and representatives of town groups, followed by a televised question and answer session moderated by the town’s Maine Municipal Association consultant.

Those events may be scheduled for early next month.

In an interview, Pols said he was hoping for a lot of public interest in the upcoming Q&A — enough to “generate objective feedback from citizens and other interested constituencies.”

Those constituencies include the Brunswick Downtown Association, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, and Bowdoin College among others.

“There’s going to be a large number of people affected by this decision,” said Pols.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

AN APPLICANT POOL of 49 candidates was narrowed down to six who were interviewed by the town council in July. All six were in municipal management positions in New England communities, with three from Maine.