AUBURN — The town manager of Hermon and a former city administrator from Idaho are the final contenders for the top administrative job in the city.

Clinton Deschene, 39, town manager of Hermon, and Benjamin Marchant, 36, former city administrator of Jerome, Idaho, will be in the city next month for public gatherings and receptions at the Auburn Public Library, Interim City Manager Don Gerrish said Tuesday.

Marchant will meet with residents from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1. Deschene will be available from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8.

 “It won’t be public question-and-answer sessions, but a meet-and-greet social hour to get familiar with them,” Gerrish said.

Deschene said the Auburn job seemed to be a good fit for him.

“It’s an interesting career, being a municipal manager,” Deschene said. “I’m always looking for the right opportunity for my family.”

Deschene graduated from high school in Presque Isle in 1991 and from the University of Maine in Orono in 1995. He graduated with a law degree from Suffolk University in Boston in 1998, and began working for the town of Bradford in 1999. He began working in Hermon in 2002.

Deschene is married with two children, ages 6 and 2.

Marchant could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He has worked at cities and towns across the country, including the San Diego Mayor’s Office, a suburb of Chicago and Maryland Heights, Mo. He took the job in Jerome, Idaho, in 2008 and left last October.

The City Council is on track to select a city manager and begin negotiations in May.

The previous City Council voted to terminate City Manager Glenn Aho’s contract in October. They voted in November to hire consultants Eaton Peabody to lead the search for Aho’s replacement and to manage the city in the meantime.

staylor@sunjournal.com