Go Figure: Joe Shlick Retiring As City's Finance
Director
May 4, 2006
By Greta Sproul Joe Shlick may be retiring from his
13-year stint as Old Town's Finance Director, but he's taking his love
of numbers with him when he goes. Shlick talked candidly about his
passion for mathematics, his feelings about Old Town, and his plans for
the future in an interview with The Penobscot Times last Thursday.
"The way I see it," Shlick said from behind the adding machine that sits
atop his desk at Old Town City Hall, "is that people either love numbers
or they don't. They either like math or they don't. I really don't
think there's much middle ground." Shlick developed his
personal love of mathematics while a student at Old Town High School. A
native of LeGrange, Shlick attended high school in the days before that
town became part of SAD 41 and so ended up as a tuition student in Old
Town. He credits his high school math teacher with sparking in him what
turned out to be a lifelong avocation. "Bernard MacKenzie
was my math teacher at Old Town High School," Shlick said, 'and when you
came out of his class, believe me, you knew math. He made learning about
it fun. He set the tone for the way I've felt about math ever since."
Like most life paths, the one that eventually brought Shlick to the
finance director's office in Old Town took a few loops along the way.
Shlick attended Husson College in Bangor, and after graduating with a
degree in accounting, worked as a plant controller for Nissen's Bakery
in Brewer. But when the company closed its Brewer operations, it was
time for Shlick to take fresh stock of what he wanted to do.
"When the company closed the Brewer bakery, I was offered the choice of
relocating to Portland," he said. "But I wanted to stay in the area and
see what else was out there for me."
It turned out that "what was out there" for Shlick was the position of
finance director for the city of Old Town. Prior to accepting the
position, Shlick had never worked in the public sector, but he says that
the 13 years he's spent in the job have been "great", mainly because of
the people with whom he comes in contact every day. "The
people of Old Town are really just amazing people," Shlick said. "It's a
great community to be a part of. Everyone here has been wonderful to
me." Those who have worked with Shlick during his tenure
as finance director are equally impressed with him. At his retirement
party, which was held at the city hall on Wednesday, well-wishers came
out in force, presenting Shlick with a tool to help him to pursue one of
his other interests: golf.
"I received a beautiful set of golf clubs as a
retirement gift. Now I can go out and hack up the course," Shlick joked.
Shlick's jovial manner when he's not working is in contrast to the
serious regard with which he views the idea of handling the money
entrusted to him by the citizens of Old Town. "When
people are trusting you to handle the money that they've made," he said,
"it's important to respond to that trust with the utmost respect and
integrity." Shlick says that he and his wife have "no
grandiose plans" now that he's retired, and that he will continue to
work part-time until the completion of the city's budget reduction
process. At that point, Mike - will take over as finance director.
And so what final words of wisdom does Shlick have for anyone who might
want to add a few to their personal cache? "How about
'liars never figure, and figures never lie'?" he said, turning jocular
again. "Really, I've just enjoyed my time here. And of course I'll go on
loving numbers no matter what I do. There's something about knowing
that, in math, there's always an exact, right answer that's out there
waiting for you to figure out. That's what's always drawn me."
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