“I’m slightly overwhelmed right now, but that’s to be expected,” Lodge said.

Town Council voted unanimously Saturday, Dec. 12, to install Lodge as interim town manager.

He replaces former Town Manager Gordon Elliott, whose contract with Dewey expired Thursday, Dec. 10.

Lodge said his contract extends until Feb. 3, or until Dewey hires a full-time successor to Elliott. Commissioners announced they intended to offer the job to an unnamed candidate.
As they negotiate a contract, Lodge said he doesn’t plan to shake up town hall – just maintain a steady course and prepare for Dewey’s new town manager.

“I don’t see myself making a lot of changes,” Lodge said, adding that his job will be mostly analytical in nature, collecting information to brief the incoming town manager.

Lodge served on the search committee tasked with finding Elliott’s replacement. He said many encouraged him to apply for the job, but Lodge, retired since 2002, told them he planned to stay that way.

Still, his 25 years in various managerial positions at electronics giant Hewlett-Packard led commissioners to offer him the $280-per-day job of tending town hall between supervisors. He said he’s a good fit for the position – round peg, round hole.

“The hole’s not quite round,” Lodge said, “but I’m not quite round, either.”

Lodge divides his time between Wilmington and Dewey’s Van Dyke Avenue, where he’s owned property since 1972. Lodge said he and his wife, Susan, are living in Dewey for the duration of his assignment.

In his retired life, Lodge said he enjoys sailing on Rehoboth Bay, working with antique automobiles and speaking Japanese, a hobby he’s continued long past his days of serving Hewlett-Packard in Tokyo.

Dewey commissioners decided in August not to renew Elliott’s five-year contract. The search committee appointed to find his replacement sifted through 85 applicants to choose a yet-unnamed candidate. Town code prevents the candidate’s name from being disclosed until he or she accepts the job.