I am drawn to write a letter to the editor by the front page article in the Sept. 20 edition of this newspaper. According to the article, the mayor of Saco feels that there is a problem with the city administrator’s new contract.

Your reporter referred to an earlier letter to the editor by Councilor Eric Cote. In Cote’s letter, he referred to various statistical improvements that have occurred since Richard Michaud’s tenure as city administrator began. These improvements are true and unique.

During Michaud’s management of the city, the demand for housing has increased. As a result, home prices in Saco have risen, but so has the demand to live in Saco. This eliminated a projected decline in students in the Saco school system, sustaining efficiency in spending for Saco’s schools. It has resulted in expansion of Saco’s recreation program, which is now more versatile and nearly self-sustaining. The number of Saco’s first responders has grown due to the need for service. It has not shrunk from lack of use or grown more than the demand for emergency services.

Saco’s departments are run by qualified personnel. These people were selected by Michaud, and are examples of his careful and effective hiring and training processes.

While I was the vice president of the Maine Municipal Association and involved with municipal problems statewide, I met many selectpersons, councilors and city managers from around the State of Maine. They all recognized the consistent quality of Michaud’s work and credited him with the stability in Saco’s government, despite the tremendous impact of the recession and millions of dollars of losses from cuts in revenue sharing.

Michaud is an expert in municipal finance and budgets who can teach this at the university level, should he leave Saco government. Due to Michaud’s success in administering the City of Saco, many managers will be interested in attempting to fill his shoes. He was hired after a very broad interview process led by then-Mayor Mark Johnston and then-Councilor Bill Johnson, and conducted by a number of selected residents rather than a group of councilors.

I am among those surprised by the contract change negotiated by the council. However, our city councilors are the people authorized in the city charter to negotiate the city’s contracts. The councilors who voted in favor of the contract include those who are most experienced and sensitive to the difficulties in running the growing city that Saco has become.

The contract now binds both the city and Michaud, so it is past time for hand-wringing about the contract. This contract is not based on history; it is based on the future. It is time for the mayor and council to work with Michaud and his staff to get a return on our investment in the contract in order to create a brighter future for Saco.

Marston Lovell, Saco

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