The town of Durham is seeking someone to succeed John Ricker as its public information technician, a position that involves a 15-20-hour work week.

Ricker, who is taking a job at Tambrands in Auburn, produced the Durham News Blast, an online newsletter of weekly happenings in town. He also filmed the Board of Selectmen’s meetings and uploaded the contents to the town’s website.

Then, there’s the other things Ricker does for the town.

“He was our tech guy, but he would change light bulbs and take trips over to the storage modular behind the fire station,” said Town Clerk Shannon Plourde, who has worked with Ricker for approximately five years. “We could ask that man anything and he would do it. He had the time and he had the love of Durham.”

Plourde said that Ricker’s main responsibility, though, was “getting information out to the town.”

Ricker, who has two grown daughters, has been a town employee since 2012. He served on the Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors from 2010-2013, and helped the town through the short process of a proposed withdrawal from RSU 5 three years ago. Ricker is not involved in Durham’s latest look into withdrawal from RSU 5.

He started his new job on Monday, but said he will make himself available to the town until a replacement is hired. Ruth Glaeser, town administrator, said Monday that the town has no interviews scheduled of candidates for the job.

“I’ll miss this job,” Ricker said. “I get to interact with the townspeople. I’ll leave when the find a replacement.”

Applications are available at www.durhamme.com or at the Durham Town Office, 630 Hallowell Road, Durham, ME 04222.

John Ricker