Around a dozen people gave written and spoken feedback at Lisbon Town Council’s public hearing on the qualities residents would like to see in the next town manager.

It was a chance for councilors to pick residents’ brains ahead of the town’s nationwide search, which will use recruitment firm Strategic Government Resources to help build a candidate profile and solicit applications.

The search comes after former Town Manager Glenn Michalowski left last October to take the interim town manager position in Raymond. He left amid public backlash to the fiscal year 2026’s town budget approved last summer that dramatically raised property taxes.

Miscalculations in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal year budgets led to less property tax revenue being raised by the town for those years.

Because of that, the current 2026 budget relies much more heavily on property taxes, pushing them up significantly. The town is still working to better understand its financial situation; an auditor’s report has not yet been completed.

Interim Town Manager Jim Bennett issued a report about the financial snafu last week and gave councilors several suggestions about how to address rising property taxes and prevent it from happening again.

During the Jan. 6 public hearing, residents seemed to agree on a few qualities and skills they would like to see in a new town manager. They include someone who is qualified to help the town sort out its financial issues and who will communicate not just with the council but with residents.

Members of the public and councilors seemed split on a residency requirement for the new town manager. Some residents felt it was important to have the new town manager living in the town while others and some councilors thought it could be a drawback to attracting a good candidate.

Resident Eric Metivier said if the new town manager were living in the town and being directly impacted by staff and council decisions, they would care more about what happens in Lisbon and would be more likely to face people on a regular basis.

“I agree that I would like to see a town manager that lives in our town because then they have something vested here, they have to face people in the town” he said. “It’s easy when you’re living out of town. You can just get in your car, leave, you don’t have to face people.”

School Committee member Len Lednum felt that a residency requirement was not a reasonable expectation of the new manager. Instead, he said he prefers to find someone with the right qualifications.

“You’re probably not going to get someone who feels like ‘I’m a resident.’ Realistically they’re probably looking for the next … job,” he said. He later added, “Let’s find somebody that knows what they’re doing, and that should be the only qualification.”

Councilor Chris Camire said the council typically only contracts with a town manager for three years, though sometimes that can be pushed out to five.

Councilor Fern Larochelle said it can be challenging for a town manager to live in a town where he works and the requirement could be off-putting to some candidates. “It’s something we’ll have to weigh out.”

Councilor Greg Garnett suggested a compromise that would require the town manager to live within a certain distance from the town, allowing them to live in Bowdoin or Durham for instance, he said.

Everyone who spoke at the meeting believed the new town manager should be highly qualified and experienced with helping towns that face the kinds of struggles Lisbon has experienced the past couple of years, specifically with a strong understanding in finance.

Holly Anderson said she would like to see the new town manager have a background in many skills, including accounting and good management.

“What I would like to see in a town manager … I want the town manager to be accountable to the Town Council, each and every one of you, accessible to the public … honest, integrity, accounting background for financial reasons. … Lastly, Town Council and town employees really need to be heard (by the town manager), as well as town people,” she said.

Other councilors made similar comments and talked about how they were impressed with Bennett and his level of management knowledge. They would like to see the new manager be at a similar skill level.

Communication with not just councilors but the public was another big quality residents would like to see in the new town manager, many of them said.

Paulette Cyr would like to see the new town manager be available to talk to and meet with everyone, she said.

During her comments, Anderson said people need to be listened to better, and she’d like to see the town manager and councilors go out — door to door if necessary — and talk to residents.

At the end of the day many communities surrounding Lisbon have the ability to pay more, which could mean the town will have to pay the new town manager a higher salary than previous managers, Larochelle said. It is something the town needs to contemplate and residents need to decide if they support that, he said.

“We may find the perfect candidate but they may be, you know, a stretch for what we typically have ever paid for a town manager in the past and that is just part of the environment we are in right now,” he said. “I mean, you basically have to have a big carrot out there for someone to come and actually want to work for us.”