Peter Joseph ready to serve as York’s next town manager: Vows 'transparency, trust and honesty'

YORK, Maine — The Selectboard has hired a new town manager in Peter Joseph, a veteran public administrator who last ran the town of Freeport, Maine.

Joseph, 41, signed a contract for three years as York’s town manager at an annual salary of $175,000. His official start date is set for April 10. Joseph has been the town manager in Freeport for the last 10 years, and before that, he was the town manager in Lincoln, New Hampshire for four.

The Selectboard voted unanimously Monday to appoint Joseph to the position. Board members said they were impressed with his experience and his approach to government. Selectboard member Marylin McLaughlin said he had a “comprehensive manner” in that he could “look at the big picture.”

“You have so much background in regard to municipal management that I have no doubt you would bring a whole new way of looking at things,” McLaughlin said.

Joseph, originally from Sandown, New Hampshire, got a bachelor’s degree in political science at Merrimack College and a master’s in public administration from the University of New Hampshire in 2006.

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Joseph thought he was going to have a career in state or federal politics but became disillusioned during an internship at the Massachusetts State House.

“It’s theater and politics,” Joseph said. “I got a little disillusioned.”

He discovered local government through his next internship at the town office in Andover, Massachusetts. He recognized the dialogue was more policy-driven and centered around getting big projects done, often driven by meaningful debate.

“You still have the politics, which can be both good and bad, but it’s stuff getting done,” Joseph said.Joseph was 25 when he got his first job as a town manager. He was hired to run the White Mountain ski town of Lincoln, New Hampshire, in 2008. He was serving a population of 1,500 people in a town that also could have 10,000 tourist beds filled in a single night.

“I was excited, and also, a little bit scared of that moment in my career,” Joseph said. “It just puts a whole different level of responsibility.”

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Joseph loved working in the tourist community and also became president of the Lincoln Woodstock Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and 2012, according to his resume. He also received the Manchester Union Leader’s 40 Under 40 award in his first year as town manager.

“It was a good learning experience,” Joseph said. “That community up there is a fantastic community.”

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Joseph moved on to become Freeport’s town manager in 2012 in what he described as a career growth opportunity. He said Freeport’s population was larger, the 2020 census showing 8,737, and it featured a different kind of tourism more focused on day-trippers looking to shop.

“A very good analog is Kittery – people passing through,” Joseph said.

Now a town manager of 14 years, Joseph said his style of government has remained focused on the values of “transparency, trust and honesty.” He said despite it being cliché, he believes it’s a mistake to keep the public out of the decision-making.

“You can do the best job in the world and go about in a way that does not involve the public and is not transparent,” Joseph said. “Laser focus on making sure there’s transparency, an access to information, openness. Those are my key values.”

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Why Joseph wanted to become York’s town manager

Joseph said he and his wife made a decision last summer to move the family to southern Maine or New Hampshire to be closer to family.

By that time, the Selectboard had begun its first search for a new town manager to replace Steve Burns, who retired in August. The search was unsuccessful, Selectboard Chair Todd Frederick describing the effort as yielding no “tremendous” candidates.

The board launched their second effort to find a town manager in December, at which point Joseph applied.

Frederick said Joseph was easy to talk to and demonstrated a lot of knowledge about municipal government. Board members also said Joseph put a lot of effort into learning about York ahead of the interviews.

“He’s the kind of guy that, I’d invite to a picnic at my house,” Frederick said. “He’s going to be a tremendous town manager.”

Joseph believes his experience in Lincoln, with its many hotels, is most relevant to his new work overseeing a beach vacation town. He said he has reviewed the town’s comprehensive plan and climate action plan and is impressed with the goals the town has for its future. He said he looks forward to helping residents roll them out in the coming years as he takes the helm at Town Hall.

Monday, Joseph told the board he was grateful for the chance to lead York.

“I’m just grateful for the comments and all the trust you placed in me,” Joseph said. “I’ll work to keep that.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Peter Joseph ready to serve as York’s next town manager