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'We're all just stunned'

Paul Blanchette, Fairfield’s town manager for more than a decade, dies

By Doug Harlow dharlow@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

FAIRFIELD -- Longtime Fairfield Town Manager Paul E. Blanchette died unexpectedly Saturday, town officials said Sunday.

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Paul Blanchette

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Blanchette was 52 and appeared to have finally gotten past earlier health problems, said Deputy Town Manager and assessor Cynthia Tuttle, who was interim town manager for Fairfield before Blanchette was hired in 2000.

"He was a good manager to work with and in a small town like this, it was like a family environment," Tuttle said Sunday. "All the employees are shocked; we'd thought his major health issues were behind him and he was on a good mend. It was very, very sudden."

A special meeting of the Fairfield Town Council has been called for 9 a.m. today at the town office to discuss possible options to appoint an interim manager.

Tuttle said she was uncertain of the details of Blanchette's death, but it appeared to have been a heart attack. There were no details Sunday on funeral arrangements. He is survived by his wife Rose and three teenage children.

Blanchette suffered from kidney problems and diabetes and had kidney transplant surgery just last year, Tuttle said.

"In the last year, if anything, he's just been more on top of everything; things seemed to be going good. He was a positive person to work with," Tuttle said. "If anything, his personal life was coming back together really good, his business life was coming back together really good.

"A manager leaving of his own accord is one thing ... but seeing that office ... it's going to be really hard, I think, for employees for quite a while."

Blanchette took over as Fairfield town manager on March 1, 2000. He replaced Terry York, who had resigned in November 1999.

He had been town manager in Stonington before coming to Fairfield.

An Eagle Lake native, Blanchette graduated from Fort Kent High School and then the University of Maine in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a background in public management. He previously served as a town manager in Eagle Lake, Portage, Enfield and Stonington.

Blanchette also owned and managed a restaurant at one time, was a tax assessor in Eliot, undertook a revaluation of Eagle Lake, and was a certified Maine assessor, according to published reports.

His most recent accomplishment was finalizing the sale of the former Thomas M. Teague Biotechnology Center to Kennebec Valley Community College.

Blanchette was the youngest of six children from Eagle Lake, with a large extended family, Tuttle said.

Fairfield Town Clerk Tracey Stevens, who was hired by Blanchette in 2004, said he was a good person to work for and an easy person to be around.

"Paul was a great boss; not only was he a great boss, but he was a great friend," Stevens said. "It's really devastating for us. We're all just stunned. He was a great guy, you could go to him for anything."

During his first few months as town manager in 2000, Blanchette also hired Duane Bickford as the new fire chief and John Emery as the new police chief.

Contacted Sunday, Emery said he shared the shock that other town officials were feeling over Blanchette's unexpected death. He said he had not heard anything in the way of details of the manager's death.

"I haven't heard a thing, other than that he passed," Emery said. "I don't know anything and it's driving me nuts. I thought he was excellent, understanding and supportive, great to work for ... it's hard ... it's very hard. I'm still in shock. I just cannot believe it."

Gerald York, a Somerset County commissioner representing Fairfield, said Blanchette was a good town manager who cared about Fairfield and about Somerset County as a whole. York is the husband of former town manager Terry York and father of current town councilor Andy York.

"I knew him by his reputation in town and his dedication to the town of Fairfield and Somerset County," Gerald York said Sunday. "I certainly appreciated him coming to the budget meetings in the last year and getting involved at the county level and when I had asked him for input, he responded and helped us out in that respect. He'll be missed greatly."

Edward Stevens Jr., chairman of the Fairfield Town Council, said Sunday that the board will take it slow replacing Blanchette. He said Blanchette's family and town office employees come first in the order of business.

He said Blanchette was a very competent and respected town manager and a good friend who will be missed by many people.

"Our plans tomorrow morning are to kind of just sit down and look at where we're going to be next week and for the next few months, before we advertise for a new town manager," Stevens said. "Our main concern at this point is to work with town employees, making sure how they take this. Also Paul's family is very important to us. That's our priority at this point."

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534

dharlow@centralmaine.com