The senior member of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen resigned April 1, citing differences with town management about “employment situations.”
“Since my positions are contrary to the direction town management is going, I feel I can no longer represent my constituency and therefore I’m stepping aside,” Selectman David Atwater said in a handwritten letter to board Chairman Ronn Orenstein.
The decision comes as Damariscotta and Newcastle officials are discussing the interlocal agreement between the towns, which expires in June. The agreement establishes the framework for joint public operations in the towns.
Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus has said he will not reappoint Steve Reynolds as Damariscotta’s road commissioner. Reynolds has been the superintendent of public works in both towns since the creation of the interlocal agreement in 2011. (See “Damariscotta, Newcastle disagree about public works management” in this edition.)
Atwater expanded on his resignation letter in a handwritten statement.
“When I became a selectman six years ago, I received from the Maine Municipal Association a Municipal Officers Manual,” Atwater said. “In this manual there is a guide for due process regarding the handling of employment situations.
“As time went on I felt that management was not following due process but instead self-seeking and not listening to the board of selectmen. I lost respect and therefore decided to resign.”
Atwater said he supports the renewal of the interlocal agreement. “I think it’s been effective in taking care of our roads,” he said.
The remainder of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen accepted Atwater’s resignation in a 4-0 vote Friday, April 3.
Atwater was the senior member of the board. He was elected to a one-year term in 2009 and re-elected to three-year terms in 2010 and 2013. He was the chairman of the board from August 2011 until stepping down for health reasons in February 2013.
“I felt good about the work I did on the board and I wish success to the board in its continuation of running the town,” Atwater said.
Atwater’s current term will expire in June 2016. The town will elect someone to fill the remainder of his term at the municipal election this June. Former Selectman Josh Pinkham has taken out nomination papers to run for the post.
Orenstein, the chairman of the board, has served with Atwater since 2010.
“I feel he was excellent as a selectman,” Orenstein said. “We will all miss him.”
“I thought his work was very diligent and he always asked intelligent questions,” Orenstein said. “He really did his work and his reading, and he was very good.”
The selectmen were “quite surprised by his resignation,” Orenstein said. “All of us are disappointed.”
Lutkus, the town manager, also praised Atwater for his service as a selectman.
Lutkus said he enjoyed working with Atwater, especially when he was chairman. “I used to stop by The Bakery every Wednesday morning and visit with him, and we’d talk about all the issues the town was facing,” Lutkus said. “I hope there will be some way to honor him for his service on the board, perhaps at the town meeting.”
Atwater sits on the Damariscotta Financial Advisory Committee. Prior to his election to the board of selectmen, he was the chairman of the now-defunct Damariscotta Planning and Advisory Committee.
Atwater relocated to Damariscotta in 2000 after a career in the financial services and insurance industries in Massachusetts. He has had a second career as a local baker, caterer, and culinary arts instructor.
He opened The Bakery in downtown Damariscotta in spring 2010, but closed it in October 2012.
