Frank Fassett is baffled by the Boothbay selectmen’s decision not to retain James Chaousis as town manager. Fassett questioned the board on Jan. 28 for not agreeing to a contract extension for Chaousis before he accepted Rockland’s town manager position.

Prior to Chaousis’ accepting Rockland’s offer, he negotiated with Selectman Dale Harmon on a three-year contract extension. The proposal would have increased his base pay by $1,000 to $75,000, made him eligible for a yearly $5,000 bonus, and provided him the option of receiving 50 percent of his healthcare benefits in cash.

This proposal would have increased Chaousis’ yearly compensation and saved the town $17,603 over three years based on figures supplied by the town manager.

After a Jan. 8 executive session, the selectmen allowed the proposal “to die,” according to Selectmen’s Chairman Steven Lewis.

Fassett questioned the board on Jan. 14 and 28 about not retaining Chaousis. He believed Chaousis’ work over the past four years was exemplary and believed the town would have a difficult time finding a replacement.

Fassett is a Boothbay Harbor resident who owns 40 acres of land in Boothbay. He regularly attends meetings in both towns.

Fassett told the selectmen during the Jan. 28  meeting that they failed on both a fiscal and civic level by not retaining Chaousis.

“Not only could we have kept him, but he wanted to stay,” Fassett said. “After reading the contract I’m more confused than I was before. We could’ve kept him and saved $17,000 as well. I don’t understand what happened.”

Lewis explained that Chaousis had board support, but not full support. Lewis said he supported retaining Chaousis, but the negotiations fell apart because it wasn’t an unanimous decision. Harmon didn’t attend the Jan. 28 meeting, but said on Jan. 14 he favored the contract extension. 

Selectman Stephen Ham told Fassett that he didn’t want Chaousis to leave either.

“I agree with you. I’m concerned that we couldn’t retain him, but I’m only one vote.”

Selectman Douglas Burnham said the negotiation was conducted during an executive session so the board’s “hands were tied” about revealing details.

Fassett believes at least three selectmen favored offering Chaousis a contract extension. He wanted to know why, if the proposal had a majority support, why wasn’t an extension offered.

“Three out of five that’s 60 percent. In school that’s a D,” Fassett said. “How could a proposal that saved the town $17,000 over three years not be an A. I’m not sure I’d want to work under those conditions either.”

Chaousis said he entered into the negotiations with Harmon before Rockland offered him the position. He described the proposal as a win-win for both parties.

“The proposal fell apart with the selectmen prior to negotiating with Rockland, at all,” Chaousis said. “I never leveraged the Rockland opportunity to better the Boothbay compensation. I would have declined the Rockland offer if the selectmen approved the proposed contract, although in the end the Rockland offer was better.”

The contract also required Chaousis to return his bonus if he didn’t fulfill the three-year contract extension.

On March 2, Chaousis will become Rockland’s city manager. His starting salary is $92,000. His salary in Boothbay is $74,000.