NEW GLOUCESTER — Town Manager Carrie Castonguay tendered her resignation Nov. 4 to the surprise of her Selectboard.

“It was unexpected,” said Selectboard Chairwoman Linda Chase. Castonguay notified the Selectboard of her decision in person at the board’s meeting.

Castonguay, who has been in the position for 2½ years, said personal reasons led her to resign.

But she also cited a challenging political climate, saying, “It is challenging. It’s in every town, every state. It’s on every political level.”

There is “such a societal shift” and “such a deep divide” that “it’s difficult to navigate,” she said. 

Castonguay will remain in the office until Nov. 27 and then take her earned vacation time through Dec. 13.

She said she has no future plans, although she would like to “rest and rejuvenate.”

“I’ve been in the public sector in 22 years. It’s time to move on,” she said. “I really don’t know what I’ll do.”

Castonguay has also served as an administrative assistant for Livermore and as town manager of Belgrade.

During her time in New Gloucester, she coordinated the construction of the new Public Works facility at 611 Lewiston Road, which is slated to open in the coming months. She also encouraged parks and recreation programming, including transitioning the town’s parks and rec director to a full-time position, and moved the town to 24/7 EMS coverage.

Chase said that the Selectboard is considering using the Maine Municipal Association to conduct its search for a permanent town manager. The board was scheduled to meet Nov. 13 to discuss the next steps. She was unsure whether the town would appoint an acting or interim town manager or begin searching for a permanent manager.

“We’ll be determining more of that process (on Wednesday),” she said. “We’re going to work through the process. We’ll move forward from there.”

“We really don’t know what the (town manager search) process is going to be right now,” Castonguay said. “I’ll certainly help as much as I can or as much as they want me to.”

Castonguay has also begun discussing capital improvement plan requests with town department heads in an effort to get ahead on the town’s budget.

She would like to have a rough draft of the budget by the end of the month, although she said that she will still be available to answer questions after Dec. 13.