Clint Cushman, who retires Friday as Gorham code enforcement officer, left a parting message in a letter announcing his departure.

“It is my hope that henceforth, the politicians will view this department less as simply a ‘cash cow,'” Clint Cushman, leaving the office after 15 years, wrote on Nov. 25, “and more in its true capacity of providing a vital service to the public in the form of overseeing safe construction practices, forcing unresponsive landlords to correct serious code violations, protecting the environment, and assisting the general public with relevant land use issues.”

Cushman’s words come as Gorham moves toward attracting more business. After a decade-and-a-half on the job, Cushman is leaving the position at a time when the town is dealing with a recession and trying to reconfigure the way it handles planning and code enforcement.

Once benefiting from a building boom, with a decade high of 193 new single-family home building permits in 2002, Gorham saw its housing permits plummet to 30 last year and commercial permits decrease from a decade high of 31 in 2003 to 18 in 2008.

Gearing up to bolster the town’s tax base in a sagging economy this year, the Gorham Town Council filled a new position, zoning administrator, placing the planning department and code enforcement office under one head to streamline the permitting process.

Gorham Town Council Chairman Mike Phinney said Tuesday the board was trying to make the process easier. “We want one person in charge,” he said.

Last summer, Sandra Mowery was hired as Gorham’s first zoning administrator in an effort to lure businesses and developers to Gorham. The move left Cushman without department head status in town hall.

“I haven’t had an issue with Sandra,” Cushman said.

“I could have retired several years ago,” Cushman, who declined to reveal his age, said Monday. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely.”

As the town struggled to prevent a rise in the tax rate last spring, a 20 percent cut of Cushman’s pay representing nearly $11,000 from a salary of $54,327 was proposed, but Cushman’s full salary was restored in a final budget approved by the Town Council. The council did trim the hours of Cushman’s assistant, Freeman Abbott, representing a 46.7 percent salary cut.

“I’m disturbed about them cutting Freeman back. He lost his benefits,” Cushman said. “He does a good job as a building inspector.”

“We’ve done our best to work with anyone who wants to deal with us,” he continued.

Cushman has dealt with some big projects in Gorham, including the $800,000 renovation of the former Hansen’s Farm Market in South Gorham into a Mercy Hospital medical facility. Cushman said the building permit was $8,095. Cushman’s office has issued the facility, which is expected to open on Dec. 21, a temporary certificate of occupancy. “They can go ahead and crank it up,” Cushman said.

As another large, current project, Cushman mentioned the Central Maine Power station expansion on Straw Road, for which the building permit cost $28,000. A few years ago, a multi-million dollar dormitory on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine was a big-ticket item, generating a $100,000 building permit fee.

The department’s operating budget for the fiscal year ending June 31 was $135,908. The code office includes Angela Fall as office manager. “There hasn’t been a year we haven’t brought in more money than the (department) budget,” Cushman said.

Cushman, who has a home in Wilton, lived locally in an apartment. Staying in his office in the municipal center daily until 5:30 or 6 p.m., Cushman said with a laugh that he waited so not to get caught in Gorham traffic congestion.

“He put in countless hours,” Phinney said.

Phinney on Tuesday praised Cushman and said he has represented the town well. “Clint has done a great job,” he said.

For many businesses, Phinney said Cushman had often been their first contact in Gorham.

“It’s normal to call the code guy,” Cushman said.

The selection committee that picked Cushman was comprised of Dave Sawyer, Gorham’s tax assessor at the time, plus Gorham Town Manager David Cole, and Phinney, then a Planning Board chairman.

Councilor Burleigh Loveitt at last week’s Town Council meeting noted the position of planner after Deborah Fossum recently retired was filled from within without a search. “This is a very important office,” Loveitt said referring to the code department. “We want the ‘A’ team on board.”

Gorham Town Manager David Cole told the council the town is advertising for a full-time code officer to replace Cushman.

Sawyer, now Windham’s tax assessor, said Tuesday that Cushman is very knowledgeable and treated everybody equally. “I felt the town really had someone who enforced the code in a fair and professional manner,” he said.

Cushman said he had succeeded Mark Mitchell as the Gorham code officer. When Cushman was hired, the town didn’t even provide a car or an assistant, but both of those were added in 1997.

Cushman said Monday he didn’t have political interference in doing his job and there hadn’t been any micromanaging. “Rarely David came down,” Cushman said, referring to Cole.

Sawyer said the code enforcement job is a difficult one. “If you do your job, someone will be unhappy, he said.

With a chuckle, Cushman recalled one amusing incident. He had received a complaint about junk in a yard near the center of town, but the property owner cleaned it up within a week after Cushman spoke with him. Cushman said he got a thank-you card from the guy’s wife and neighbors. “We’ve been trying to get him to dispose of it for years,” he said the card read.

A former politician himself, Cushman, who is single and lives in Wilton, was a selectman for 14 years in that town, with seven years as chairman. Some years, he commuted from Gorham to attend selectmen meetings in Wilton.

Before coming to Gorham, he had previously served three other towns in code enforcement. He had also worked 21 years in an environmental lab for International Paper in Jay.

Cushman said in Gorham he worked with hundreds of people “across a wide spectrum.” He planned to help customers right up to his final hour Friday and doesn’t want a retirement party. “I want to shake hands with town employees and wish everybody well,” Cushman said.

With free time at hand, Cushman plans to clean out his garage at home, and to spend time playing chess and fishing in upstate Maine. “It’s time to get the fishing rods out,” Cushman said.

A framed, color photo of Wilson Lake hangs on a wall in his office at the Gorham Municipal Center. “I might try that a little bit,” Cushman said.

Enforcement Officer Clint Cushman, right, was recognized last week for 15 years of service in Gorham by Town Manager David Cole. (Courtesy photo)