FARMINGTON – Yesterday, the Farmington Town Manager Christian Waller resigned from his position.
The Farmington Select Board held an executive session to discuss a personnel issue on Monday at 3 p.m., and around 4:30 p.m. the Bulldog was notified that the regularly scheduled board meeting set for 6 p.m. that same night had been canceled.
The Farmington Select Board and Waller came to the mutual decision to accept Waller’s resignation as of 4 p.m. Monday, February 6, according to a press release provided late Monday night by the town’s attorney, Amanda Meader.
According to the press release, Waller cited a desire to spend more time with family.
Waller was hired in August 2021 as the town manager, stepping into the position following Richard Davis’s retirement after a twenty-year career as the Farmington town manager. Waller was hired from a pool of 14 applicants and unanimously approved by the select board, accepting a three-year contract with the town. Previously he was employed as the Director of Policy at the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, where he had worked in various roles for nearly a decade. Waller received his Master of Public Administration degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Indianapolis and worked in finance before transitioning into local government roles.
Select Board Chair Matt Smith acknowledged that this was an abrupt turn of events. Due to the nature of personnel privacy laws there were limitations to the information he could disclose regarding Waller’s resignation. Smith said that the board is working to continue through the budget process and the upcoming town meeting, hopefully without any setbacks from this change.
Smith reported that the board has spoken with the town’s department heads, who will continue working on their budgets with the assistance of the town accountant, Marc Roy. They will be working to complete the budget process in time for the annual town meeting, which is scheduled for the end of March.
In the absence of a town manager, Smith is now temporarily the primary contact for both department heads and residents of Farmington. He can be contacted at mwsmith@farmington-maine.org or 491-2743. Smith said that he would be the point of contact, but that he would work with the other board members to temporarily fill the town manager role and address any issues that may arise.
Over the last few weeks the town has filled a number of vacant positions in the town office, including the assessor, treasurer, and town clerk. Now, the board is working to secure an interim town manager as quickly as possible.
The select board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, February 8, at 6 p.m. to review department budgets.
