Biddeford City Manager James Bennett City of Biddeford Photo
BIDDEFORD — The Biddeford City Council voted for a one-year extension to City Manager James Bennett’s contract on Dec. 20.
The vote was unanimous — and without comment — by the six city councilors present. Councilors Marc Lessard, Doris Ortiz and Amy Clearwater were absent.
According to the contract, the city will pay Bennett an annual salary of $148,200 retroactive from Aug. 1, through the end of this fiscal year, and may adjust the annual salary upward or provide a bonus at its discretion as a performance adjustment. Bennett’s salary will increase to $153,400 on July 1, 2023, the contract states.
The one-year extension means the contract will expire July 31, 2025.
Bennett, a longtime municipal administrator, was hired as Biddeford’s city manager in August 2015, after former City Manager John Bubier announced he was stepping down. Bennett’s initial contract was due to expire Aug. 31, 2018. Beginning in 2016 and continuing annually since then, the council has extended the contract by one year, which means he has always had a three-year contract ahead of him. The practice, or variations of it, is not uncommon in other Maine communities and in municipalities in other states.
Before arriving in Biddeford, Bennett was city manager in Presque Isle. He has been a municipal manager in several Maine communities, including a seven-year stint in Old Orchard Beach that began in 1990, and in Westbrook and Lewiston, among others.
Bennett has served as president of the Maine Municipal Association Executive Committee since January. His term expires Dec. 31.
He was president of the International City/County Management Association in 2014.
He is a Mason and has long been active with Kora Shriners.
Bennett began his involvement with municipal government early on, when he was elected as selectman in his hometown of Lisbon when he was 21 years old.
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