Mackin, 63, will be retiring later this year after 19 years leading the organization. Howe began advertising the position Monday.
“I’m ready to retire; I expect to be doing work on advocacy after I leave this position, but won’t be working full time,’’ said Mackin, who first broached the subject of retirement two years ago as the board of directors was developing a strategic plan.
“I’m very happy with what we’ve accomplished. It’s been great progress. There’s still plenty to do, but I’m confident we’ll be able to find a person who will be able to continue the progress and potentially even move us forward in a better way. There will be great opportunity for the right person.’’
Peter Phippen, president of the nonprofit’s board of directors, said the search will be for a candidate with multiple qualities, including fund-raising and political acumen on the local, state, and federal level.
The new executive director will inherit a much different organization than the one Mackin took over in 1993. At that time it was an all-volunteer initiative, and Mackin was a 15-hour-a-week executive director. Now the association has five staffers (three are part time), a permanent home on the banks of the river in Ipswich, and an annual budget of $350,000.
It also has taken on a new initiative that, for the first time, expands its reach beyond its own watershed. Parker-Ipswich-Essex Rivers Restoration Partnership, launched in 2011, focuses on habitat restoration for three neighboring watersheds as well as the Great Marsh, an expanse of some 20,000 acres that stretches from Gloucester to Salisbury.
“The board has a direction, but you also have to use the talents of the new person,’’ said Phippen. “We’d like to continue on the same track that we’ve been going, which is a lot more restoration project work, as opposed to the litigation that the association has been involved with in the last five years.’’
That litigation related to the Water Management Act and the water withdrawal rates of local communities.
