Tom Hall likes to live close to where he works, and it has nothing to do with his morning commute. Recently selected to become the next Scarborough town manager, Hall said he and his family are currently packing up their Rockland home in preparation of moving to Scarborough based on a three-year, $104,000 annual salary contract signed with the town after weeks spent interviewing for the position.

“[Living in the community] is the only way I know how to do this job,” he said. 

 Hall is no stranger to moving; having grown up in Presque Isle through his high school years, he said he became used to extended road trips throughout the state. 

“Bangor was always the big destination,” he said. “To me, driving 150 miles is nothing.”

Although his parents both taught at the University of Maine’s Presque Isle campus, Hall said he chose to attend classes in Orono, already knowing it was the first step in an extended educational track. 

“My parents both had Ph.D.s and I pretty much knew I was going to go for a graduate degree,” he said. 

While he may have known how long he was willing to study, it took Hall two years to decide exactly what type of degree he wanted to earn. Although he said history class was interesting, at the end of his sophomore year he declared his major: public administration.

“I thought ‘What am I going to do with a history degree?’” he asked. “At least a degree in public administration is a good general degree. A lot of the skills are directly transferable into the business world.”

Hall said his grades began to improve as soon as he set his sights on a specific degree and in 1989 he graduated with a near perfect grade point average within his major. Soon after graduating from the University of Maine, he was accepted to Pennsylvania State University where he earned his graduate degree, also in public administration, and met his future wife. While he said both universities taught him how to effectively run multi-faceted municipalities and other organizations, he still had some “learning on the job” to do at his first position as the assistant township manager in Hatfield, Penn., a suburb of Philadelphia with 15,300 residents and a $5.1 million municipal budget.

“I think maybe I should have had some more practical experience [while attending graduate school],” he said. “I learned a lot about people, they can’t teach you this stuff in a textbook.”

Hall said he quickly became the “go-to-guy” in town and discovered it was as important to listen to residents as it was to work with other local officials. 

“One of the most difficult things for any public servant is that their charge is to act in the best interest of the community,” he said. “No idea is bad, everything deserves the right to a process.”

Despite a growing desire to return to New England, Hall said he applied and interviewed for the town manager position in Bethlehem, Pa., “for the experience.”

“Every interview you do is a learning process,” he said. “And I actually got the job.”

After four years experience as an assistant town manager, Hall said he found himself “comfortable” in the manager’s position during a time of intense local development, not unlike Scarborough’s current development potential, he said. Hall said he helped move along several industrial and commercial developments as well as build a new town hall and fire station.

“I was kind of thrown into it,” he said. “It was exciting, it was boom-time.” 

Although he stayed in the position for five years, Hall said he “always knew it wasn’t final,” as he and his wife were still harboring a desire to move to New England. They had a chance when Saco was searching for their new town manager in 1999. Although Hall interviewed for the position, Saco city officials chose Richard Michaud as a new city administrator, who has been there ever since. 

Hall may not have gotten the job, but he said just applying for the position put his resume on the radar for Rockland city officials who were looking to fill the town manager seat Michaud left vacant. Hall officially began his position as Rockland city manager in 1999.

“Of course there was a lot of interviewing and screening going on, it’s not like pieces on a chess board,” he said. “I think [Maine natives] all want to [return to Maine]. It’s a beautiful place to own a home and to raise a family.”

For the past nine years Hall and his family have lived in Rockland, where he said perhaps the biggest challenge facing administrators in the “land poor” city was figuring out how to effectively redevelop certain portions of the city that had fallen by the wayside.

“Redevelopment projects aren’t easy,” he said. “They can be very messy and controversial.”

Hall said perhaps the most important project he oversaw was the redevelopment of Rockland’s Main Street.

“When you think of anywhere you’ve been, the image that comes to your mind’s eye is Main Street,” he said. “A town’s identity is its Main Street.”

Hall said he hopes to rely on his experience developing Rockland’s Main Street as the new town manager for Scarborough, which has yet to develop a distinctive town center. Rebuilding downtown Rockland took more than new sidewalks and storefronts, however, as Hall said the city incorporated a downtown tax increment finance district (TIF) into a section of the street “ripe for redevelopment.”

“It will hopefully help ease the financial pressure for residents and spur private businesses to go there,” he said. “It’s really going to work and I’m a bit disappointed I won’t be around to see it.”

When it comes to Scarborough, Hall said getting a feel for the town’s self-image is the first task on his agenda. 

“There’s 350 years of history here, which creates a unique identity,” he said. “Route 1 defined it, development has spun from that and of course the marsh plays an important part.”

Hall said he is looking forward to being a “sounding board” for residents who have concerns, an increasingly important role for public officials. In his 17 years experience, Hall said he’s noticed “an erosion of trust of public officials” perhaps because they are now so much more accessible to residents than when he began his career. 

“We need to gain back that trust, and that’s not going to be easy,” he said. “It’s going to be different. 

Hall’s first day as Scarborough town manager is scheduled for Nov. 3. The current town manager, Ron Owens, will work with Hall for one week before officially retiring from the position.