Jaffrey’s new town manager is no stranger to public administration, as he has spent the past four-plus years serving the needs of three towns at once.
Maine resident Jon Frederick was announced as Jaffrey’s new town manager in a press release on Thursday. Frederick was previously employed as the town manager for Mapleton, Castle Hill, and Chapman, Maine, which is under an interlocal cooperative agreement.
“My wife and I were hoping to return to New Hampshire,” said Frederick, who previously had lived in Derry for a decade. “I’m looking forward to working in a larger municipality setting. I’m going to focus on diving in and learning the operations. My primary focus is determining the needs of the town.”
At his current job, Frederick said he has to do many things — like attending Select Board meetings and working on budgets — in triplicate, as he presides over three towns. Frederick said the total mileage of all three towns is larger that Jaffrey, but the total population is only about 3,000.
Frederick is due to start the week of March 5. Frederick’s contract with the town is for three years, with a starting salary of $92,000 plus benefits, according to Selectman Don MacIsaac.
MacIsaac said Frederick had a great presence during the interview process, and he enjoyed that Frederick is a “straight up kind of guy.”
“It’s always exciting having someone new in town,” said MacIsaac. “It will be interesting to see Jon’s perspective on the issues in town.”
MacIsaac said he has yet to have a conversation with interim Town Manager John MacLean, but said that there should be some overlap to provide a smooth transition for Frederick.
Frederick was previously employed as the director of parking and transportation for Portsmouth, New Hampshire from 2006 to 2012, and prior to that spent 20 years with the US Coast Guard.
He has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of New Hampshire, a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, and is a certified Maine assessor.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.