Veteran Maine manager targeted by Facebook blogger resigns

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

A polarizing Maine blogger who publicly campaigned for a city manager's ouster has gotten his wish.

Not only has Biddeford CEO Jim Bennett, who's managed towns across Maine for 40 years, resigned.

But he's now also abruptly cut his planned departure date short.

Bennett, who announced in October he was quitting, was supposed to remain in the job until this spring.

But city officials now say he's all done, effective immediately, as councilors hunt for a successor.

“As part of the transition I have been asked to serve as acting city manager to ensure continuity in daily operations,” said Brian Phinney, city chief operations officer.

“In accordance with this plan, Jim will be on leave from this point forward,” Phinney said in an email to municipal workers.

The email, intended to be secret, became public once outspoken Facebooker Randy Seaver got hold of a copy of it.

Seaver, who has made no bones about trying to oust Bennett, posted the memo on a Facebook account he calls Biddeford Gazette.

Bennett touted his 10-year tenure in announcing his resignation, saying he'd revitalized the city and improved its financial stability.

But Seaver, who blamed him for being insolent as well as an ineffective leader, dropped all semblance of journalistic impartiality in calling over a period of several months for Bennett to be ousted.

“Few people - if any - have been as publicly outspoken in their criticism about Bennett’s performance as yours truly,” he boasted on his blog.

But Bennett wasn't the only casualty of this head-to-head matchup.

Amid Seaver's political activism masquerading as journalism he was either pulled off the city beat or resigned while writing for Liz Gotthelf, who runs Saco Bay News.

He then started his own on-line gig.