WINDHAM — Leon Goodwin, the town’s finalist for the town manager position, informed the Town Council Thursday morning that he had accepted a town manager position in Dedham, Massachusetts. He is the town’s second finalist to take a job elsewhere.

The council will meet with interim Town Manager Don Gerrish in October to discuss future plans for the permanent town manager search.

The Town Council chose Goodwin, currently a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, as the finalist from a field of 14 applications in its third round of applications.

Windham has been searching for a new town manager since October 2018 when then-Town Manager Tony Plante left with a $175,000 severance package amid turmoil on the council about his job performance. Plante was replaced by Gerrish, and the Town Council had originally expected to appoint a permanent manager in January.

In the first search, no suitable candidate was found. In the second, finalist John Mauro turned down the council’s offer in July in favor of a city manager position in Washington state.

In July, Gerrish was optimistic about opening the search for a third time: “I think we should go back out one more time, see what we can get out there,” he said. “I would really like to leave you with a full-time manager, and I’m willing to stay and go through the process.”