HOULTON, Maine — First impressions can go a long way in establishing how a person feels about a new community.
For Houlton Town Manager Butch Asselin, that first impression came in the form of a simple gesture performed by two strangers more than a decade ago.
“It was in March, and the thing I remember the most, is after the interview, the councilors asked me to wait downstairs to see if they had any more questions,” Asselin recalled. “I stood outside for a few minutes and two different people approached me and asked me if I needed a ride. These were complete strangers. I never forgot that. It was then I realized what a wonderful community this really is.”
Asselin formally resigned from his position as town manager during Monday night’s council meeting. His final day with the town was Tuesday, Aug. 15. He has accepted a job as town manager for Oxford.
Town Clerk Cathy O’Leary will serve as the interim town manager until a replacement can be found.
Asselin said the decision to leave Houlton was not an easy one. After all, he and his wife Lauren have come to view Houlton as their home in the 10 years they have spent here.
“I do have some regrets on leaving,” he said. “I love the people I work with. I love my home. I really do love living here. But the reality set in that once our youngest daughter graduated from college, we had no family here.”
Asselin began his career in law enforcement in 1975 as a patrol officer with the Skowhegan Police Department. He worked his way up through the ranks and was named Skowhegan’s chief in 1997, a position he held for 10 years.
In 2007, Asselin decided a change was in order and he relocated to southern Aroostook County, where he was named chief of the Houlton Police Department. During his time in Houlton, he has been instrumental in instituting many community programs and has helped mold the HPD into a progressive agency. He is actively involved in many efforts countywide, one of which is helping to develop the first task force in Aroostook County on domestic violence and sexual assault.
The Maine Chiefs of Police Association lauded Asselin in February 2013 by presenting him with the Chief of the Year award. He also received that group’s “President’s Award” in September 2012.
“Looking back at my seven years at the HPD, I’d like to think that I left the department in better shape than it was before I got there,” Asselin said. “We replaced a lot of equipment and established positive relations with the state police, border patrol, customs and sheriff’s office. I think we changed the culture of the agency.”
Asselin said he prides himself on making HPD one of the first local police departments in the state to outfit officers with body cameras. He also was instrumental in outfitting the department with new handguns, shotguns, stun guns and uniforms.
“My philosophy has always been, if you want your officers to feel good about themselves and the job they are doing, then you have to provide them with the tools,” he said. “I think it did impact their job performance.”
The town council named Asselin as its interim-town manager in early 2014, but at that time he had no interest in taking over the job permanently. He served as both interim town manager and police chief for several months, without additional compensation, when he was approached by several town councilors to take the job.
“I had been in law enforcement for 38 years and was quite happy doing what I was doing,” he said.
After several conversations, including one with Caribou Police Chief Mike Gahagan, he decided to apply for the position and was selected.
Asselin said he feels the town is heading in the right direction and has a solid group of town councilors and department heads to help lead the community into the future. He added that he was proud of a number of projects that were completed during his tenure as town manager. Those projects include repairing the Gateway Crossing Bridge without any cost to taxpayers, thanks to money in a tax increment financing account; and construction of a spec building at the Houlton Industrial Park that helped Smith and Wesson expand operations.
“I was very fortunate to have a bunch of great staff members to work with here at the town office,” he said. “I will miss working with this staff. Cathy O’Leary (town clerk and assistant town manager) has been my go-to person. We have a group of skilled department heads who do their jobs so well, that the town will be able to get by without a town manager for a little while.”
