For the fourth time in 20 months, the Town of Raymond is seeking a Town Manager following the resignation of Joseph Crocker last week.
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| Raymond Town Manager Joseph Crocker, who has served in that position first as interim manager since March and then as the permanent town manager since May, has resigned and the town will undertake a new search to find a replacement. FILE PHOTO |
Look had served as Raymond Town Clerk before succeeding longtime Town Manager Don Willard in January 2024 upon his retirement. Willard had been Raymond’s Town Manager for 23 years until he became ill, and while recovering chose to retire from the Town Manager role. Willard was elected in June 2024 to serve on the town’s Budget and Finance Committee for a three-year term.
Originally from Saco, Crocker attended high school at Thornton Academy and then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. He later earned an MBA in sports and recreation management from New England College. Prior to coming to work for the Town of Raymond, Crocker worked in parks and recreation for Saco, Auburn, Kennebunk and Lewiston. In 2020, Crocker was hired to lead Raymond’s fledgling Parks and Recreation Department as director.
Crocker was hired for the Town Manager position after a competitive recruiting and hiring process conducted by HR Maine Consulting, LLC. All told, there were 46 applicants for the town manager position. Nine of those candidates participated in a rigorous essay and pre-screening process, with four candidates moving forward in the panel interview process, consisting of the Raymond Select Board Chair, Vice-Chair, a community member, town department heads, a Town Manager from another community, and Betsy Oulton from HR Maine Consulting.
His contract was for three years at an annual salary of $100,000.
Raymond Select Board Chair Denis Morse posted on the town’s website on Monday that he and all the Select Board members placed “high value” on Crocker as a town employee and that following his resignation, Morse asked him to remain as a town employee “and be a part of our ongoing work to devise a transition plan that included being mentored by an interim town manager.”
Before that could happen, rumors and misinformation began to swirl about Crocker’s departure, Morse said. He says this caused strife, anxiety and discomfort directed at other town employees as well as members of the Select Board.
According to Morse, this behavior, including some public comments made about the situation from former elected town officials “is the opposite of civil discourse and would be unconscionable even if this situation happened to be contentious or controversial, which it is not.”
Morse also posted a letter that the Raymond Select Board had received from Crocker which amended the timeline for his original resignation.
“I will stay on in a capacity to help with the transition to find a Town Manager who will bring experience that will fit the needs of the community,” Crocker wrote in the letter. “If this transition involves a space for me after the search has ended, I would be happy to stay in a different role if it works for everyone involved.”
Crocker said he does not wish any animosity toward the Town of Raymond but prefers to keep the reason he resigned private.
“When you provide services to a small town for so long, they become your friends,” he said. “All I can say is I have given my best effort to make the Town of Raymond better, and all I ask is that our elected officials act in good faith to do the same.” <
Raymond Select Board Chair Denis Morse posted on the town’s website on Monday that he and all the Select Board members placed “high value” on Crocker as a town employee and that following his resignation, Morse asked him to remain as a town employee “and be a part of our ongoing work to devise a transition plan that included being mentored by an interim town manager.”
Before that could happen, rumors and misinformation began to swirl about Crocker’s departure, Morse said. He says this caused strife, anxiety and discomfort directed at other town employees as well as members of the Select Board.
According to Morse, this behavior, including some public comments made about the situation from former elected town officials “is the opposite of civil discourse and would be unconscionable even if this situation happened to be contentious or controversial, which it is not.”
Morse also posted a letter that the Raymond Select Board had received from Crocker which amended the timeline for his original resignation.
“I will stay on in a capacity to help with the transition to find a Town Manager who will bring experience that will fit the needs of the community,” Crocker wrote in the letter. “If this transition involves a space for me after the search has ended, I would be happy to stay in a different role if it works for everyone involved.”
Crocker said he does not wish any animosity toward the Town of Raymond but prefers to keep the reason he resigned private.
“When you provide services to a small town for so long, they become your friends,” he said. “All I can say is I have given my best effort to make the Town of Raymond better, and all I ask is that our elected officials act in good faith to do the same.” <
