Aroostook County Administrator Ryan Pelletier is leaving his position to become Saco’s next city administrator, the southern Maine city announced on Monday.
His last day with Aroostook County is Jan. 2, 2026. He will begin the position in Saco on Jan. 5 with a salary of $185,000.
Pelletier has served as administrator of Aroostook County since May 2017, where he oversees the county budget and acts as the “nucleus” of its departments, he told the Bangor Daily News Thursday.
“In general, I think we’ve done a lot with streamlining the county government, making it more efficient and more responsive,” Pelletier said of his eight years in the position.
His decision to move on from the role follows the fulfillment of a promise he made to his family.
“A lot of times people move around in their jobs and they have to uproot their family and their kids have to change schools and all that, and I had made a commitment a long time ago that I wasn’t going to do that,” Pelletier said.
Pelletier’s youngest son graduated from high school in June. The job opening in Saco was simply “the right opportunity.”
“There’s a lot of new things that I still want to do and that community kind of provides that for me,” he said.
Pelletier’s new role as city administrator is akin to that of a town or city manager, a position he knows well. Before stepping into county government, he spent more than 13 years combined as the town manager of Wallagrass, St. Agatha and Madawaska.
Reflecting on his time in county government Wednesday, Pelletier cited bridging gaps in collaboration between municipal governments as a major focus — and success — of his tenure.
“We focused a lot on regional cooperation,” Pelletier said. “There has long been kind of a division between towns and cities and counties, and coming from a background of municipal government, I really wanted to try to strengthen that.”
Pelletier referenced a 2018 upgrade paid for by the county that connected the sheriff’s office and local police departments through a single records management system as evidence of that.
He also pointed to the county’s ARPA grant program, which allocated nearly $6 million to municipalities and nonprofits of the $13 million Aroostook County received in funds from the federal program and generated more than $16 million in matching funds and subsequent community investment.
Managing the government through the COVID-19 pandemic, including the unique task of keeping inmates at the Aroostook County Jail safe and secure, was a major challenge, Pelletier said.
But on the other side of that crisis, the county moved to adopt a remote participation policy for County Commissioners’ meetings, opening the door for more interactions with the public and leaning into the county’s goal of greater transparency.
“I think that’s really helped [and] been a positive change,” Pelletier said.
As Aroostook County looks to find its next administrator, he encouraged those interested in his position to reach out and ask questions.
