ROCKLAND – Knox County Administrator Jane Desaulniers, appointed to the post last summer, has resigned.

At a special meeting of the county commission on Wednesday, commissioners voted to accept Desaulniers’ resignation.

At the same meeting, commissioners met in closed session with William Post, who is currently town manager in Damariscotta. Commissioners are expected to negotiate a compensation package with Post for him to fill the vacant position.

Post was the runner-up applicant for the position when Desaulniers was hired.

Though Desaulniers cited personal reasons in her letter of resignation, her departure comes just shy of six months on the job. When hired in August, she was given a one-year contract with a six-month probation period.

The contract also included an option for a two-year extension. Desaulniers was to earn $68,000 in salary annually.

Commissioner Mason Johnson said Thursday that Desaulniers was not asked to resign. Asked if the resignation letter, dated Feb. 14, came as a surprise, he said “yes and no,” and cited “extenuating circumstances prevailing.”

Earlier this month, commissioners completed an evaluation of Desaulniers that Johnson described as positive.

He said he could not disclose details about Desaulniers’ tenure with the county.

“It’s unfortunate that in some of these situations, because of laws and regulations, you can’t divulge every detail” about the matter, he said.

Commissioner Anne Beebe-Center also said she was surprised by the resignation, and agreed the recent evaluation was positive.

“This has basically been a positive experience,” she said of Desaulniers’ tenure. Beebe-Center acknowledged that the administrator has been short-handed, but commissioners were moving to hire more office help.

A telephone message left with Desaulniers on Thursday was not returned.

Commissioners agreed to pay the outgoing administrator a net settlement of $35,000 in severance pay. The cost to the county for the cash payout is closer to $57,000.

Beebe-Center opposed the severance package, but Johnson and Commission Chairman Lawrence Nash approved the deal.

“It’s a pretty dangerous precedent for a probationary employee,” Beebe-Center said Thursday.

Both Johnson and Beebe-Center were confident that a deal could be worked out with Post to have him fill the position. Desaulniers will be on the job through Tuesday.

During Desaulniers’ brief tenure, longtime County Clerk Virginia Lindsey’s position was eliminated, a move Desaulniers endorsed.

When she was hired, commissioners touted Desaulniers varied job experience, including most recently in the human resources department at Home Depot in Rockland. She also managed Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office in Auburn for a time, and in the late 1980s was a consultant to then-Gov. John McKernan.

The position of administrator was created in November 2004 when county voters approved the first-ever Knox County charter. The document called for, among other things, creating the administrator post.