With the resignation of Mayor Michael Finkelstein now officially set for May 1, the Republican Town Committee unanimously chose to endorse Fred Allyn III for the interim mayor job Monday night.

The endorsement paves the way for the Town Council to vote on Allyn's appointment as mayor on March 26. By charter, the replacement for Finkelstein, a Republican, must belong to the same party.

Finkelstein has been selected by East Lyme's Police Commission to be that town's first police chief, and he submitted a letter Monday to the Ledyard town clerk offering his resignation effective May 1. 

RTC Nominating Committee Chairman Mike Cherry said Allyn was “by far, in my opinion, and no on in the committee disagreed, most qualified individual to lead us into the future,” shortly before the town committee voted unanimously to endorse Allyn.

The broker-owner of Allyn Associates Realtors and son of former mayor Fred Allyn Jr., Allyn III has served two terms as a town councilor and is currently the chairman of the Finance Committee, which handles the town’s expenditures.

He was interviewed by the RTC’s nominating committee shortly before the full committee’s meeting. Both Cherry and Republican Town Committee John Rodolico mentioned the wide variety of committees Allyn serves on and his work on the budget as the reasons he would make a good mayor.

“He has the unique qualities to lead town government. ... The budget this year represents his leadership,” Rodolico said.

Allyn, who described his political philosophy as advocating for a limited government at all levels, said he would work to divest the town of property like the former police building and the Gales Ferry landing.

Allyn said he would be sitting in on meetings with Finkelstein in the coming weeks as he introduced himself to the various boards and committees he would be working with if the Town Council appoints him. If he is appointed, Allyn will serve until November, when an election will be held for a mayor to finish the rest of Finkelstein’s term. Allyn has said he will run in November.

“I’m fortunate to have the relationship I have with the Town Council and administration. In Town Hall, it’s a much easier transition coming in knowing the players,” Allyn said.

Since this is the first time Ledyard has had to appoint an interim mayor, the town is “learning some things” about the effectiveness of the process dictated by the town charter and how the Town Council eventually chooses an interim mayor, Rodolico said.

Initially, there was concern about the short time frame between Finkelstein’s announcement and the date he could potentially leave, said Rodolico, and committee members were relieved to hear that Allyn would offer his candidacy so quickly. 

“We were a little anxious about it … but we weren't in a critical situation for a very long period of time,” Rodolico said. “Fred was able rather quickly to make the decision to step up.”

While the town charter doesn’t specifically dictate a process to select a candidate for the interim mayor position, it does require vacancies be filled by a member of the same party as the outgoing person, and it made sense to go through the party’s nominating process, Rodolico said. 

“Clearly, this is a council decision, but we as a party have always tried to conduct business in the open, and we made sure people (were) aware” of the open mayor position, he said. “It’s unique, it’s never happened before."

Finkelstein's resignation letter, filed Monday with the town clerk, was intended to allow the process to start to find his replacement, he said Monday. He said Allyn was “ahead of the curve” with his work on the finance committee, and he expected the transition to be seamless.

East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson, who serves on the town’s police commission, said the town was not yet committed to a date to go independent, but they had aimed for a summer time frame so the police department wouldn’t be going through the transition as the population swelled with summer residents.

Allyn’s appointment to the mayor’s position may also leave a seat empty on the Town Council, and Rodolico asked members of the committee and unaffiliated residents with Republican ideals to get in touch with Mike Cherry if they are interested in being appointed to a seat on the council.

n.lynch@theday.com