Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier has declined the town’s offer of a multi-year contract extension and will step down on or before March 1, 2012, the last day of his current contract.
Grenier read a letter outlining his decision at the Oct. 10 meeting of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen.
“The time has come for me to move into the next phase of my personal life and to perhaps pursue new ventures,” Grenier said.
Grenier, 63, didn’t explicitly mention retirement. “I want to devote some time to family,” he said Oct. 11.
“I’m leaving my options open,” he said, and he might pursue “something else,” although “not on a full-time basis.”
Newcastle hired Grenier in March 2008.
“Since then together we have collaborated and partnered together to improve for the better, I like to think, the town’s governance, operations of the town office and performance of the town staff,” Grenier wrote in his letter to the selectmen. “It has been for me personally a very positive journey.”
“I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge the town staff, without whose support I could not have performed my job and with whom it has been a pleasure to work alongside,” Grenier wrote.
“We really regret taking this from you,” Brian Foote, the chairman of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen, said. “We hate to see you go. You’ve been a great asset.”
“He’s taken us to the next level,” Selectwoman Ellen McFarland said.
The selectmen called a special meeting for Mon., Oct. 17 from 7-8:30 p.m. for a workshop to discuss the selection process for Grenier’s successor.
“With this advance notice, I am confident the Board will have sufficient time to conduct a thorough search process for a smooth transition to take place,” Grenier wrote. “I look forward to working with the Board on this important change in the leadership of the town’s management.”
Depending on the speed of the transition, Grenier might resign his position before his contract expires, he said.
Grenier is the second full-time administrator in the town’s history. Newcastle voters adopted the town administrator format at the 2005 annual town meeting.
