HAMPDEN – Robert Markel, of Longmeadow, has taken the reins as interim town manager for Hampden in the wake of the controversy surrounding the former administrator’s abrupt exit. Markel is ready to jump in with both feet.

“You tend to be at the center of just about everything of significance in a town, being the administrator,” Markel said.

Markel has a varied career history that stretches from academia to public service. He was a political science professor at American International College in Springfield for 20 years before going on to teach at Westfield State. Markel then served seven terms in the Springfield City Council before being elected mayor of the city in 1992.

After leaving Springfield, Markel worked as the town administrator for a few towns before retiring in 2012. Markel said many people in his position work as interims after retirement, “as a way of keeping busy.”

Hampden is the eighth town in which Markle has served as either the interim town administrator or interim town manager since he retired. The shortest time he has served with a town has been eight weeks, while his longest term was two years. Markel said it depends on when the town can hire a permanent administrator.

 “That is the least attractive or interesting part of the job,” Markle said about moving around. He said there's definitely a learning curve when coming into a new town.

Markel received what Hampden Select Board Chair John Flynn called “glowing” reviews from his previous towns.

“You’ve got to live up to it, that's the challenge now,” Markle said.

He began his six-month term in Hampden the same way he begins in every town.

 “I always ask the board, what do you want me to accomplish? They have given me a nice list,” Markel said of Selectmen John Flynn and Donald Davenport.

One of the issues they have asked Markel to tackle is the ambulance service contract. With the current contract extension set to expire in June, Markel is searching for nearby ambulance service providers.

Other issues include focusing on human resources, setting up human resources, better record-keeping, an orientation program for new hires.

“I think the responsibility I have is to keep things going and respond to the new initiatives,” Markel said. “The town has a lot of interesting things going.”

Even though Markel’s position is short-term, he said that he has no reservations about tackling long-term problems. When he was the town administrator in Buckland earlier this year, for example, he applied for a Green Communities Grant to replace the street lights with energy-efficient bulbs and save between $8,000 to $10,000 per year. That was just approved, months after he left.

Markel sees the administrator as responsible for the morale of the workplace. As such, he sent out an email to the department heads in town asking what needs addressing so he knows what needs work before his time in Hampden is over.

There are 351 towns in Massachusetts, Markel said, and they're always losing their town administrators.

 “As long as I can make a contribution, I’ll keep doing it,” he said.