By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The name of the future Naples town manager was revealed earlier this week.

“We have an agreement with one of our prospects. His name is Jason Rogers. Jason is a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. He is in the middle of his retirement right now. He will be decommissioning his ship in the next month and moving to his new home in Bridgton with his wife, and starting the job on Oct. 10,” according to Chairman Ted Shane.

Rogers’ start-date falls on the Tuesday after the federal holiday Columbus Day, Shane said.

Town employees were the first to hear about the new hire on Monday morning, Shane said.

Then, the official announcement was made during the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday evening.

Since Rogers is off the coast of California, fulfilling his job with the U.S. Navy, he was unavailable for in-person introductions prior to starting the new position. 

“At the first meeting in October, he will publicly be here and we will introduce him again in public,” Shane said. “But I wanted to get it out there before the rumors started.”

On May 12, former Town Manager John Hawley served his last day. Prior to his resignation date, the selectmen contracted with Maine Municipal Association (MMA) to facilitate the job search and provide an interim town manager.

The deadline to apply for the job occurred this summer; and the selectmen have been interviewing potential candidates for several weeks.

“The [interview] process was quite lengthy. We had 13 applications, interviewed six and narrowed it down to three,” Shane said. 

“It was the unanimous decision of the board to hire Jason,” he said. “He is excited to come here. He expressed that highly during the process.”

The board did not create an interview committee. Instead, the selectmen conducted the interviews.

Selectman Kevin Rogers commented on the process, too.

“We interviewed six people and scaled that down to three. They were all such great options,” he said. “But I think he’s going to be fantastic. He has such an energy about him.”