Winslow town manager pick Steve Soucy, seated center, watches Thursday night’s special council meeting at the Winslow Public Library as a fellow veteran gives him a character reference during public comment. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — The town’s choice for its next town manager drew both praise and criticism Thursday as the contract for Steve Soucy, a resident with no municipal management experience, was negotiated in public.

The special meeting at Winslow Public Library was a negotiation of Soucy’s three-year contract for $95,000 annually. While contract negotiations almost always take place in executive session, the council did not get enough votes to hold discussions behind closed doors as Maine’s open meetings law allows. Soucy, who was in the audience Thursday, agreed to all negotiations — including a decrease in his proposed annual raise.

“I’m not here for the money,” Soucy said Thursday.

Soucy, the owner of a Winslow power washing company, unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Town Councilor Dale Macklin in November.

Frances Hudson, chair of the Winslow Town Council, said Soucy has worked at the Maine Emergency Management Agency and has experience with budgets and grants. Hudson denied allegations that councilors chose Soucy because of personal friendships.

“He has, as you can hear, plenty of the experience you all claim we didn’t find when we decided on this candidate,” Hudson said. “We did go through MMA, we didn’t choose Mr. Soucy because he’s our friend.”

Town officials said councilors spent $6,600 on a town manager search through the Maine Municipal Association, resulting in 24 candidates, Jay Feyler of the municipal association, said. Some councilors were not satisfied with the original candidates, he said, so he brought forward three late applications.

Soucy said he applied late on a whim.

The search for a new town manager began after former manager Ella Bowman resigned in November 2024. The following month, Hudson advocated for using a hiring firm to ensure fairness.

“You’re going to have a very transparent and fair way to hire a town manager,” Hudson said then. “It’s not somebody somebody else knows. It’s going to be outside of all of us, it’ll be fair, it’ll be transparent, and hopefully the best pool to choose from.”

Winslow Town Council Chairperson Frances Hudson speaks about town manager pick Steve Soucy at Thursday night’s special council meeting at Winslow Public Library. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

But on Thursday, residents said they were concerned about several councilors’ relationships with Soucy. Some referred to councilors working with Soucy to film campaign videos in November, while others suggested cronyism was behind the appointment of friends to positions of authority.

Soucy confirmed he worked with Councilor Doris LaBranche when the two ran for council, but he said most of the councilors are just acquaintances.

“I know who they are,” Soucy said. “I’m friendly with them, but that’s about it.”

Every chair in the small room was occupied, with the crowd spilling over into the hallway outside. Soucy sat in the front row. Hudson said the meeting was not recorded due to a scheduling conflict, but multiple attendees livestreamed all two hours.

Macklin tried to put the brakes on the meeting, making a motion to continue in a larger space at a later date. He said he was not given correct notice of Thursday’s meeting date.

“The full council was not informed of this meeting date tonight, until after it had already been set by the chair,” Macklin said. “The chair was aware this meeting could have been moved to the junior high tonight, and it was not, and that was her decision.”

The motion failed with Macklin, Lee Trahan and Jeffrey West in the minority.

Winslow residents and attendees livestream Thursday night’s special council meeting held at Winslow Public Library to discuss contract negotiations for town manager pick Steve Soucy. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

At the start of public comment, eight emails from residents unable to attend in person were read. Six were against Soucy, citing lack of qualifications, alleged extreme political views, the failed council run and a slanted search process that wasted tax dollars. Two expressed excitement about Soucy’s future in Winslow.

Comments were equally split. Kyle Price grilled Hudson about the search before suggesting a complaint could be filed with the Maine Human Rights Commission.

Mackenzie O’Ben echoed Price’s call for legal action. She shared plans to organize a petition and present it to the Office of the Maine Attorney General in a formal request that the council be investigated for corruption.

“See you in court,” one resident yelled to raucous laughter.

Others gave Soucy glowing character references. Three people who live outside Winslow spoke about serving in the military with Soucy, endorsing his work ethic and leadership skills. One said: “I would trust my life with him.”

Feyler said 99 out of 100 candidates would not be willing to discuss their contract in public.

Soucy said it was humbling but helpful to have negotiations play out in front of the town.

“It gave me a chance to hear, face to face, some of the comments and what people are looking for, and really what their concerns are,” Soucy said. “So I know how to proceed and how to frame things to ensure that — granted, I don’t have any municipal experience per se, but I have a lot of life experiences that have lent themselves to me being able to tackle this town manager position and do Winslow right.”

Negotiations led to a decrease in Soucy’s raise, from 7% to 5% in the second year of the contract. His start date was adjusted to April 14. Councilors were unanimous in their vote to amend the contract.

“That’s never happened before,” one attendee joked about the vote.

Hudson said after the meeting she wants to see the town less divided.

“I’m looking forward to Steve getting the chance to prove to the people that he is a good pick. Afford him that respect,” Hudson said. “I want the vitriol in the town just to slow down a little bit, and give him a chance. He’s either going to prove you right or wrong. Give him that chance.”