FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Tuesday to promote Recreation Department Assistant Director Matthew Foster to director when Steve Shible retires in May.

Shible is retiring after 35 years as director, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

The board accepted Davis’ recommendation to promote Foster. 

“Occasionally, there is already a person on staff,” Davis said, one who knows the program and has developed a reputation and rapport with the public.

“I believe in promoting from within when you can,” he said.

Board members agreed and endorsed Foster for the job.

“He is quite well trained,” Selectman Michael Fogg said.

Foster, of Solon, became the assistant director in February 2011. His interest in outdoor sports and new energies appealed to Recreation Committee members who helped interview him, Shible said at that time.

Raised and home schooled in Solon, Foster went to college in Colorado and attended the University of Maine. He earned a double major in parks, recreation and tourism and environmental management policy, with a concentration in business management, Foster said at the time of his hiring.

abryant@sunjournal.com