As Waldoboro prepares to welcome its fourth town manager in six-plus years, we have a few words of advice to offer.
We do not have any experience as town managers, but we have lots of experience as reporters, and it occurs to us that there are a few parallels between the job of a town manager and the job of a reporter.
Like a good reporter, a town manager must know how to navigate town politics without being political.
A good town manager (like the reporter) must listen with sympathy to all sides without taking a side.
A good reporter and a good town manager should both engage with the community outside the office. Volunteer at a community event or with a charitable organization in the community.
Like any good reporter, a good town manager should get out from behind their desk and go talk to people – maybe someone who isn’t happy with what’s happening at the town office, or who has been unhappy with past happenings at the town office. Mend fences. Restore confidence.
Waldoboro is a town with great potential. It needs stable leadership to help it grasp its full potential.
We welcome Julie Keizer as a full-time resident of Lincoln County and as Waldoboro’s new town manager, and wish her the best of luck in her new job.
