NOT ON THE CLOCK YET – John Hawley is the new Naples Town Manager. He attended the Naples Budget Committee meeting on Jan. 18. However, Hawley will not start full time with the Town of Naples until late February. (De Busk Photo)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES – John Hawley would not have the future he now has as the fulltime Naples Town Manager if the town’s selectmen had not extended the application deadline past Labor Day weekend.

Hawley was on vacation when the job was posted, and did not hear about it until after the resume package deadline was prolonged.

It was this autumn that Hawley, who is currently the director of operations for Regional School Unit (RSU) No. 16, applied for the position.

Hawley is scheduled to start the town manager job in late February.

“He is the result of us going back out and doing a second round of job application,” Chairman Jim Grattelo said. “We are glad we did.”

“His background and experience is going to take the town of Naples to the next level. We couldn’t have found a better person for the job,” Grattelo said.

Hawley served for 10 years as the former town manager of Mechanic Falls before taking his current job with RSU #16. At one time, the title Mechnic Falls Deputy Fire Chief was in front of Hawley’s name.

He was a code enfocement officer for 18 years. Also, his background includes being a licensed plumbing inspector and a licensed fire inspector, Grattelo said.

“We have had issues in the Code Enforcement office. His experience will help resolve a lot of those issues,” he said.

According to Grattelo, Mechnic Falls hated to see him go and Naples’ elected officials are happy that he agreed to come aboard as Naples new town manager.

“He has code enforcement experience and that is extremely important to us. More than 50 percent of the land in Naples is on the water,” Grattelo said.