ROCKLAND — Rockland City Council held a special meet and greet Monday evening before its agenda setting session to welcome its new city manager, James D. Chaousis II, who officially took the reins March 1.  

Chaousis has been living in Rockland for the past two weeks as he and his family settle into the area. 

“We are settling in great,” said Chaousis. “I’ve tried to be nonchalant and trying to hide a little bit so that I can get acquainted, but I love it here. The family is making the transition well. You expect to have obstacles, but we haven’t really had a lot of them. Everybody has really taken to their new arrangements pretty well.”

Chaousis said he wasn’t quite ready to delve into the topic of state of affairs in Rockland city government.

“It’s such a big topic,” said Chaousis. “There’s everything from what’s going on at the state level legislatively, to some of the hot topic issues of today for Rockland and local law. It’s very intriguing and I want to be part of it, but I’m not quite ready to weigh in.”

Chaousis said that Interim City Manager Tom Luttrell has kept the city in good shape. Lutrell held the interim slot for 14 months while the city searched for a new manager.

Chaousis served as town manager for Boothbay for four years and four months before taking the job in Rockland. At his last meeting in Boothbay Feb. 25, he received praise from the selectmen there for a job well done.

Boothbay Board of Selectmen Chairman Steven Lewis listed the creation of a capital equipment replacement plan and implementation of technology in municipal government as Chaousis’ major achievements.

“I want to work on communications,” said Chaousis. “I’m kind of a tech junkie, if not a tech expert. I think that by using social media we can tell our story to the public a lot easier and more effectively.”

Tom Luttrell returned to his previous desk as the city’s finance director after serving as interim city manager. He said that Chaousis was going to be an excellent addition to the city’s staff.

“He’ll do really well by the citizens of Rockland,” said Luttrell. “He comes with a vast amount of experience. I think the transition will be very smooth. He’s very technologically oriented and he’s hoping to bring us along in that respect.”

Luttrell said he enjoyed his time as interim manager.

“It was great opportunities for me too see what a city manager actually goes through,” said Luttrell. “The last time I did it was for four or five months and this time it was for 14 months so I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.”