The Lisbon Town Council on Tuesday chose Christopher Hodgkins to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Jeremy Barnard, who stepped down amid a conflict over the town’s budget issues.

Hodgkins, a political newcomer, will serve until this November’s election, when another race will be held to choose a candidate to fill out the remaining two years of Barnard’s term.

Hodgkins is the director of eight outpatient care centers for Central Maine Healthcare and serves as the chairman of the board of directors for Maine Family Federal Credit Union.

He replaces Barnard, who resigned last month less than a year into his three-year term after residents filed a recall affidavit alleging financial mismanagement by him and council Chairman Fern Larochelle as Lisbon deals with budget problems and a potential tax increase.

Many residents wanted deep cuts to the municipal budget and were unhappy with Barnard, who had urged the town to lessen the cuts made to the town budget. Barnard feared they would severely affect town services.

The town attorney found the recall petition against the two councilors was without merit. However, the council has now asked for a second review from another attorney.

The council chose Barnard over the other finalists, Jeffrey Ganong and William Kuhl, selected from a total of eight candidates who applied for the opening.

On the first ballot, Hodgkins and Ganong, a former councilor, received two votes apiece, while Kuhl, a member of the Planning Board, received one vote. With Kuhl eliminated, a second vote was held, with Hodgkins winning by a 3-2 margin.

The other five candidates were: Clyde Cavender, Garret Getch, Eric Metivier, Dale Crafts and Roger Bickford. Metivier, Crafts and Bickford formerly served on the council.

At the meeting, some attendees said they were stunned that Crafts wasn’t among the finalists. In addition to his term on the Town Council, the Lisbon businessman served four terms in the Maine Legislature and was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2020, when he lost to Rep. Jared Golden.

Councilor Norman Albert was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Town Manager Glenn Michalowski asked each candidate a series of questions. The council and members of the public also had the opportunity to ask questions.

Hodgkins said he would like to see more transparency and rationale given for making decisions.

“The council has faced a lot of challenges of late,” Hodgkins said. “I think I have the unique ability to really bring a leadership style that is calm and collaborative and will quickly get acclimated and get folks comfortable with the challenges that we face.

“My leadership and professional experience will give me a skill set to adapt quickly, drop into a situation, a challenging situation, and really be able to quickly acclimate to that and build relationships, effectively make progress and contribute.”

Hodgkins says he will likely serve only through November and has no plans to run for election. Hodgkins says he has a lot of personal changes ahead, including getting married this fall.

He hopes to provide some guidance and leadership for the next three-plus months.

“I think there’s been a lot of issues of late, especially the budget process, that have been very passionate issues,” Hodgkins said. “There’s been a lot of feedback and a lot of input, which is great. I want to make sure that we continue that collaboration and continue that accountability and transparency through that process, not just the budget process but beyond.”