OXFORD – Sharon Jackson wants to be Oxford’s next town manager.

And she has supporters.

“I think I can bring the stability that is needed” to town government, said Jackson, the town’s deputy treasurer and assistant tax collector for the past eight years.

Two residents urged selectmen last Thursday to appoint her as the interim town manager. One of them, Adrien Giroux, wondered why selectmen have contacted people outside the town “when we have Sharon Jackson right now in our own back yard.”

Selectmen did not respond to Giroux’s query. When Town Manager Michael Huston announced on June 17 that he was leaving at the end of July, selectmen decided to conduct their own search, with an eye toward hiring someone from the local area.

Head Selectman Floyd Thayer said after the meeting that the board interviewed Jackson for the interim position after she sent them a letter of interest.

But he added that “we have some other interest (in the interim position) and with a little bit of luck, we’ll get things straightened out.”

Thayer said the board may have more to say about the interim position at Thursday’s selectmen’s meeting, which gets under way at 6:30 p.m. in the Oxford Public Safety Building on Route 26.

Jackson said her knowledge of town operations and status as a town resident since 1982 are assets she would bring to both the interim and permanent job as town manager. She has previous experience, serving as interim manager for four months before Huston was hired in February 2002.

Giroux said Jackson was the natural choice for the interim position, since Huston’s last payday is Aug. 2 and “it takes time to get a person up to speed” on town operations.

Giroux noted Jackson’s dedication to town affairs and long hours of volunteer time given to her work on behalf of town recreation.

Jackson, a native of Millinocket, served eight years on the SAD 17 Board of Directors, six of them as a Budget Committee member. She resigned that position when she became interim manager in November 2001.