AUBURN — Clinton Deschene, town manager for Hermon, Maine, will move south to become Auburn’s newest city manager.

Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said city councilors and Deschene settled on a three-year contract paying Deschene $94,000 per year. That amount increases to $97,000 after six months and $99,000 after completing his first year.

“We wanted to give him a chance to prove his ability to accomplish certain things to get to that $99,000 pay level,” LaBonte said. He said the first task will be working with councilors to set goals for the next year.

Deschene is a lifelong Maine resident.

He graduated from high school in 1991 in Presque Isle and from the University of Maine, Orono in 1995. He graduated with a law degree from Suffolk in Boston in 1998 and began working for the Town of Bradford in 1999. He began working in Hermon, a town of 5,500 residents, in 2002.

Deschene will replace Glenn Aho. The previous City Council voted to terminate Aho’s contract in October. Councilors voted in November to hire consultants Eaton Peabody to lead the search for Aho’s replacement and manage the city in the meantime.

LaBonte said the contract also pays Deschene $70 per month for a cellphone, a $400 per month car allowance and paid membership in the International Association of City Managers, a professional development group.

The contract also sets up a termination process, requiring councilors to give Deschene 30 days’ notice and a six-month severance package if they decided to terminate his contract without cause. It also requires them to give him a 90-day notice if they choose to not renew his contract.

“Termination was obviously an issue for the previous council and manager, so we were very careful about that,” LaBonte said.

LaBonte said he expects Deschene to begin the job June 18.

Deschene was one of three candidates councilors interviewed in April. They brought Deschene and Benjamin Marchant, of Idaho, to the city meet residents earlier this month. Councilors met in executive session Thursday and agreed to offer the contract to Deschene and Interim City Manager Don Gerrish relayed their offer to Deschene.

Councilors met briefly in executive session Monday to hear Deschene’s response before announcing the agreement.

“I’m excited to have Clinton coming because I think he has a lot of good ideas about what to do,” LaBonte said. “I think the city staff and Auburn’s business community are going to be excited to have him, as well.”

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