Winthrop Town Manager Jeff Woolston will step down after his contract ends June 4, which is about the time the Town Council is expected to approve the following year’s budget.
Woolston, 60, said he’s resigning from the position to spend more time with his family, including his 4-month-old granddaughter. Woolston, who submitted his letter of resignation to the Town Council earlier this month, said he wanted to stay on through the budget process and give the council enough time to find a replacement.
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The Town Council hired the Winthrop native in 2011 to replace Cornell Knight, who left for the same job in Topsham.
“It’s been a priceless experience for me, having grown up in the town, to actually see and experience and help guide how it’s being managed day to day,” Woolston said in a phone interview Monday.
Woolston took the job after retiring from a 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Before taking the Winthrop job, he was the deputy director of communications for the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Much of the management and leadership work in town was similar to what Woolston did with the Air Force, he said.
Woolston said his only goals for the remainder of his tenure are to deliver another good budget to the council and to begin using some of the $1.5 million capital improvements bond approved by the town last year.
Woolston, who lives in Winthrop with his wife, Trudi, and has two grown children, said he doesn’t have any plans for after he resigns.
“I’ll keep working on my bucket list,” he said.
Kevin Cookson, chairman of the Town Council, said the town will likely begin advertising the job through Maine Municipal Association in April and should have someone chosen by the middle of May. The transition shouldn’t affect day-to-day operations or services for residents, he said.
Cookson said that considering Woolston hadn’t served before in this type of position, “he did an amazing job of doing it and picking up the intricacies of doing the job.”
Paul Koenig — 621-5663
Twitter: @paul_koenig
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