A Castine man who currently works for the state of Massachusetts has been selected to become Ellsworth’s next city manager.
Charles Pearce, who was identified last month as a finalist for the job, will take over the role of city manager from Glenn Moshier, who also serves as the city’s police chief. Moshier plans to stay on as chief after the new city manager starts.
Councilor Casey Hanson, who chairs the city’s human resources committee, said the council will vote on March 18 to ratify Pearce’s contract as city manager. Information about when Pearce is expected to start in his new role was unavailable Monday evening.
“After reviewing over 30 applications last fall, and interviewing five, it quickly became clear to all seven of us that Charlie is the right choice for Ellsworth,” Hanson said of the City Council members.
Pearce, who has lived in Castine since 2020, currently works remotely as the director of strategic engagement at Massachusetts’ Department of Economic Research. He previously worked for that state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, after being appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Baker as director of communications and customer outreach.
Pearce also is a registered Maine Guide and last spring received a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also has worked on state and national political campaigns, including Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, when he traveled nearly every day with Romney managing logistics.
After being identified as a candidate, Pearce said last month he is interested in the job because he is in Ellsworth every week, either shopping for groceries, eating at local restaurants or visiting other businesses, and that he thinks it has a lot going for it.
“I feel like it is one of the premier cities in Maine,” Pearce said.
Pearce also said last month that he’ll have no problem working with Moshier in the transition or with Moshier serving as police chief.
But when Moshier might resume his duties as police chief is not clear. He has been on leave since December from his position as police chief pending the outcome of an investigation, the reasons for which have not been disclosed.
