BIDDEFORD — James Bennett, city manager of Biddeford, will be the president of the Maine Municipal Association Executive Committee in 2022. Elaine Aloes, Selectboard chair in Solon was selected to serve as the vice president in 2022.

Bennett’s tenure begins Jan. 1, when he will lead the 12-member committee that steers MMA operational and budgeting priorities, according to an MMA statement. As the vice president, Aloes will chair the 70-member Legislative Policy Committee in 2022 before serving as the MMA president for 2023. Newcomer Justin Poirier, administrator, Town of Chebeague Island, and former board member David Cyr, manager, Town of Frenchville were elected to serve three-year terms from January 2022 through December 2024. Current board member Melissa Doane, manager, Town of Bradley, was elected to serve a second three-year term from January 2022 through December 2024.

Bennett, a 40-year veteran of Maine local government, said he believes that residents look to their town or city hall for assistance when things go wrong, and feels the pandemic has highlighted the value of having good people doing great things at the local level —  from elected leadership to first responders and volunteers. Bennett said he knows every community has a story of how those involved at the local level have found ways to make a difference for every neighbor in their community.

“To serve as its (MMA’s) President, comes with the responsibility to make sure that our members, those that serve at the local level, will continue to have that resource,” Bennett said. “It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly and one that I pledge to fulfill faithfully.”

Having started his municipal career as an elected official in his hometown of Lisbon in 1982, he assumed his first role as town manager for the Town of Dixfield in 1986, and went on to serve as the manager or administrator in several Maine communities including New Gloucester, Old Orchard Beach, Westbrook, Lewiston, and Presque Isle. Bennett currently serves as the city manager of Biddeford. Over the course of his career, he has served in numerous leadership roles including the past president of the Maine Town, City and County Management Association and the past president of the International City/County Management Association. He holds an undergraduate and master’s degree in Business Administration as well as an undergraduate degree in Accounting. He is married to Deb (Hagan) Bennett of Brunswick and has two grown children.

Vice President Elect Elaine Aloes has served on the Selectboard in the Town of Solon for 31 years, with the last 23 years as the Chair. In that role, Aloes develops the town budget and town meeting articles, as well as town policies and procedures. Aloes previously served on the MMA Executive Committee from 2001 to 2003 and was appointed in 2017 to fill a vacancy on the Committee. She was then elected to a second three-year term that began in January 2019. In her professional career she is a licensed auto damage appraiser.

Jim Gardner, Easton town manager, will continue on the Executive Committee as the “Immediate Past President’” until December 2022.