KENNEBUNK — Human resources director Michael Pardue has been appointed Interim Town Manager.

In October, long-time Town Manager Barry Tibbetts announced he was retiring in June. Later that month, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to appoint Pardue as the interim Town Manager, beginning Dec. 5.

Pardue said the temporary position will last up to 18 months. Tibbetts, who is currently on medical leave, will continue on until June as the assistant town manager.

“It’s been a very smooth transition,” said Pardue. He said the selectmen and Tibbetts and the rest of the town staff have been wonderful to work with.

“It’s just really a collegial group of individuals,” he said.

Pardue, who had been hired earlier this year as the town’s human resources director, has many years of experience with municipal government.

Pardue moved to Kennebunk with his wife, Karen in 1993, to take on the position of police chief in Ogunquit. The couple’s three children, now all adults, attended Kennebunk schools.

Purdue later served Ogunquit in a dual role as police chief and town manager.

In 1999, Purdue began working for Atlas Group, a worldwide telecommunications corporation, where he served as vice president of operations. He left the job a few years later because the related travel took limited the time he was available to spend with his family. He then opened his own firm, The Tideview Group, a firm specializing in providing management consulting services to public and private sector employers throughout the United States.

He was a town manager in North Hampton, New Hampshire for five years, and has served multiple interim positions in municipal administration and public safety.

In 2006, he served as the interim police chief in Kennebunk for a year and a half, and the police department able to accomplish 42 of the 43 changes his company had recommended for the department during an assessment done prior to his employment with the town.

Pardue’s enthusiasm for Kennebunk, which he calls an attractive tourist destination and a beautiful community with wonderful people, is apparent.

“I don’t think there’s anything to not like about Kennebunk,” he said.

However, he said, there are always ways to improve. Maintaining roads are always a challenge due to winter weather. He said there’s an aging demographic on a fixed income, and he said he wants to assist the older population while working to attract the younger demographic.

Pardue said his goals include bringing to the people a well-tuned budget, keeping an open and transparent ongoing discussion on issues related to the dams on the Mousam River and helping the selectmen develop a town manager profile and hiring process.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].