At the 68th New England Management Institute annual conference held on August 14 at Sunday River in Newry, Boothbay Town Manager Jim Chaousis was presented with the Maine Town and City & County Management Association Leadership Award.

Several members of the Boothbay Board of Selectmen, members of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness, and family attended the ceremony. Bangor City Manager Cathy Conlow presented the award.

The Leadership Award is presented by the Maine Town and City & County Management Association to a public administrator for a particularly bold and innovative project or for solving an unusually difficult problem. Projects or efforts that benefit a community, or group of communities, are eligible for this award. The public administrator receiving the award must have played a key role in the developing the project as well as implementing it.

Jim Chaousis was nominated by Patty Seybold and the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness foundation for his support and efforts in regards to the St. Andrews Task Force project.

Patty Seybold, president of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, wrote that Chaousis’ leadership and guidance through the service changes at St. Andrews Hospital led to the creation of the four town task force and ultimately to the Health and Wellness foundation. Chaousis’ leadership organized a community in turmoil. The St. Andrews Task Force organized volunteers, collected donations, obtained an attorney, and funded an independent study of the circumstances. Without Chaousis’ leadership none of this would have happened.

Chaousis is a five year member of the Maine Town and City & County Management Association and serves on the Executive Committee. MTCMA’s mission is to broaden the knowledge and promote values necessary for Maine’s local government administrators to better serve their communities. The association only awards one Leadership Award annually for commendable service to the community.