Ledyard — The news Tuesday night that the town's popular mayor was potentially headed to East Lyme as the chief of police surprised many councilors and residents, who reached for the as-yet-unused procedure to select a new mayor and looked to see who might take his place.

Town Council Chairwoman Linda Davis said, "I have to honestly say I've never texted and Facebook messaged so much as within that first hour or two" after Mayor Michael Finkelstein was announced as the top pick for the East Lyme police chief job.

But by midday Wednesday a potential transition had begun to emerge, as Finance Committee Chairman Fred Allyn III stepped forward to offer his candidacy for interim mayor.

Mayor Michael Finkelstein, 46, who retired in 2015 as a lieutenant after a 25-year career with the town police force, ran unopposed in his 2015 campaign, describing himself as "apolitical" and emphasizing his Ledyard roots.

He was the town's youngest officer when he joined at 18 and became the town's first school resource officer shortly before graduating with a degree in criminal justice from the University of New Haven, and was credited with helping to change the culture at Ledyard High School. After his five years as school resource officer and promotions to staff sergeant and then lieutenant, he became known as an active member of his community.

He was also the only mayor in recent decades who hasn't come from the Town Council first, Davis noted.

During his tenure as mayor he has overseen Ledyard's transition to an independent police department, the first town to do so in decades. His potential new job comes just a year and a half into his four-year term, which will expire in 2020.

"It isn't happy to leave a situation where you have a good working relationship" with the Town Hall staff, Finkelstein said, and he acknowledged the timing is unfortunate.

East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson, who serves on the Public Safety Commission, said that Finkelstein was not recruited for the position, and that he was surprised when he saw that Finkelstein had applied, calling him "very qualified" for the position.

But Finkelstein said he applied, not out of a desire to leave the job in Ledyard, but because he always had a well-known, deep passion for law enforcement.

"I love the job I'm in and the town I'm in," Finkelstein said. His decision came down to "following your passion and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do a rare job in a place that is just starting out. You can apply your vision to that."

"When you have law enforcement in your blood, it's a different atmosphere than political office," he said.

During his tenure as mayor, Finkelstein continued to teach forensic science as an adjunct professor at Three Rivers Community College, as he has done for the previous four years, and served occasionally as a reserve officer in the Stonington Police Department. He's also taught training sessions on sexual assault investigations and use-of-force policies for decades. He has a master's degree in administration of justice and homeland security and served on New London County's Multi-Disciplinary Team, which consults on child abuse cases.

He gave notice to Town Hall staff and councilors that he was being considered for the position Tuesday afternoon, and many offered him their congratulations for his potential new job on social media or over the phone.

The Ledyard town charter requires that if the mayor resigns, the Town Council chairman becomes acting mayor. The Town Council then will vote to appoint a replacement who will serve until the next municipal election, which will come this November. The town charter also requires that when a vacancy is filled by the Town Council, the appointee must be from the same party as the departing official.

The approximately $80,000-a-year mayor position is a full-time job that requires often being on call, as former mayoral assistant Mark Bancroft attested.

"There are some councilors that could take it on that work for themselves and a couple of councilors that are retired that could take it on," he said. "The benefit of having a professional staff is that they'll just keep marching on."

Davis said she had "no desire" to become mayor for longer than necessary and said Allyn is highly qualified in his position as Finance Committee chairman. She echoed her desire Tuesday to go through the Republican Town Committee's nominating process before bringing a potential mayor to the Town Council for an appointment.

Allyn, the son of former Mayor Fred Allyn Jr. and a two-term town councilor, said that Finkelstein's potential departure "did come as a bit of a surprise but he did make us very aware, potentially of his passion. ... This was a great opportunity for him and I'm happy for him that he took it."

When former Mayor John Rodolico announced last July that he would not be seeking re-election for the mayor's position in July 2015, Allyn said he was considering running, but thought the timing wasn't quite right. 

But after consulting with his family and his business to see if the day-to-day operations could be run without him after the news broke Tuesday morning, he got positive responses and that "made my decision a lot easier," Allyn said. 

His experience on the Finance Committee would be very helpful running the town, he said, giving him the ability to "take a solid look at the state of the finances of the town."

He said he "absolutely" would be planning on running for the following two-year term as mayor in November, as well.

Finkelstein had positive words for Allyn, whom he described as "the best possible candidate to continue everything that we're doing."

n.lynch@theday.com