CAMDEN — The personnel chairs are shuffling again in the Midcoast, with Rockland Finance Director Virginia Lindsey leaving the city for the Camden finance directorship, contingent on Camden Select Board approval April 5, at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Lindsey said Monday morning that she is taking the Camden position because it represents a financial opportunity, “I couldn’t pass.”

Carol Sue Greenleaf, current Camden Financial Director, is retiring. She has been finance director in Camden for 29 years and has been committed member of the community for decades. Her last day on the job is May 6.

“She does a lot of the good things that towns do, which mostly go unnoticed,” said Jeanne Hollingsworth, who works in the Camden planning office. “She has been a source for a lot of continuity and kindness in town.”

Camden Town Manager Patricia Finnigan cited Greenleaf’s “incredible work ethic and professionalism.”

Greenleaf began at the Camden Town Office in 1987 in the assessing office. With her experience in banking and real estate, she was promoted to tax collector, improving the collections rate to 100 percent for personal property.

“We will miss Carol Sue’s knowledge, sense of humor and personal interest she has shown toward each employee and citizen she encounters.”

Lndsey will step into Greenleaf’s shoes this spring. Her official last day in Rockland is April 22.

Lindsey, who had previously been finance director for Rockport for nine years, had joined the Rockland staff in November, with a starting salary of $70,000. She declined to comment on the Camden salary that has been offered, pending comment from the Camden town manager.

Lindsey was firm in saying she supports Rockland City Manager James Chaousis.

“I took this job not thinking I’d be leaving so soon,” she said. 

In her March 31 resignation letter to Chaousis, she wrote: “It has been a great pleasure to work for you and the city. You have been a great person to work for. You are enthusiastic in your approach to making Rockland a vibrant, active city here on the Midcoast of Maine, one that we can all be proud of. If the city does well, so do all the surrounding communities. I truly believe you are the type of manager that Rockland needs.”

Chaousis wrote in his weekly city manager’s report: “This is a great opportunity for Ginny but a big loss for Rockland. I’m not sure how someone can become as valuable as Ginny did, for the City of Rockland, in such a short amount of time. She performed several years’ worth of finance work in months. The advancements she made in the finance office will be felt for years. In a short amount of time, I have developed a very strong admiration for her skills and abilities. I wish we could have retained her. I made arrangements to appoint Wanda Harvey, Payroll Clerk, as the interim Finance Director. Wanda is very prepared to perform these functions for the city. I am certain that the city can maintain the strong finance improvements that Ginny implemented with Wanda’s leadership, skills and knowledge. Good luck Ginny. Thank you Wanda for your dedication to the City of Rockland.”

Lindsey is a Rockland native, graduated from Rockland High School in 1976, and attended the University of Maine. She lives in South Thomaston with her husband Wayne Lindsey Jr. 

IN OTHER CAMDEN PERSONNEL NEWS

The Select Board is also due to confirm Town Manager Pat Finnigan’s appointment of William O’Donnell as interim code enforcement officer, plumbing inspector and electrical inspector until July 1.

The town is seeking to fill that seat permanently, following the resignation of Steve Wilson, who departed the town office last week.

The Select Board meets Tuesday, April 5, in the Washington Street Meeting Room. The full agenda follows: