Matt Lutkus, a 32-year employee and presently the deputy city manager of Westminster, Col., will be Damariscotta’s next town manager.
David Atwater, the chairman of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen, confirmed the hiring. The selectmen unanimously and “enthusiastically” supported the choice, Atwater said. “We really were very pleased.”
Westminster, a city of 110,000 people, has 984 municipal employees alone – nearly half Damariscotta’s entire population, Atwater pointed out.
Lutkus, 58, will complete his duties in Westminster until Dec. 14 and, after a brief vacation and a cross-country move, step into the Damariscotta post Jan. 3, 2012. Interim Town Manager Don Gerrish will stay on until Lutkus arrives.
Lutkus and his wife, Julie, recently sold their house in Colorado and planned to move to Damariscotta “long before this opportunity came up,” Atwater said.
The couple has been staying with friends in Waldoboro since Friday. “We love the people here,” Lutkus said in an Oct. 26 phone interview. “We love being near the saltwater. This is home.”
The couple made an offer on a house in Damariscotta. They initially looked at homes in New Harbor, but Lutkus said it’s “a priority” to live in Damariscotta and “be a part of the community.”
“We have been interested in moving to the area for the last five years,” Lutkus said. A friend in Saco told him about the resignation of former Town Manager Greg Zinser and, later, he read about the opening in a publication of the International City/County Management Association.
Lutkus began his career in West Hartford, Conn. and moved to Kansas City, Mo., before joining Westminster as assistant to the city manager.
Lutkus “had a great meeting” with Damariscotta staff Tuesday. “We just hit it off very well,” he said.
Lutkus looks forward to arriving on a full-time basis and meeting with the selectmen, citizens and local businesses. “I’m anxious to get here and start rolling up my sleeves,” he said.
