By Diana Graettinger
The Bangor Daily News (Maine)
CALAIS, Maine — It was an intriguing concept: a public safety director to replace the police chief.
The idea was explored Thursday night first at a public safety committee meeting and then at a full City Council meeting afterward.
The council ultimately took no action on creating a public safety director’s position and decided to move ahead with hiring a police chief.
Calais Police Chief Michael Milburn resigned in June for health reasons. There are 17 applicants for his job, and to date no one has been interviewed. In the meantime, the council decided to look at alternatives, including hiring a public safety director who would oversee more than one department.
City Manager Diane Barnes told members of the public safety committee, made up of City Council members, that acting on council instructions, she had looked into the concept.
Barnes said officials in Hampden, which has a public safety director, told her that the change from three people - police, fire chief and ambulance - to a single public safety director was working for them, although it was a rocky road at first.
Barnes said other communities also had a public safety director who oversaw more than one department, but she had not yet spoken with officials from those towns.
The city manager told the committee members that if the council decided to move forward with the plan she recommended that the person hired have police experience.
About 20 people attended the committee meeting, including police, fire and public works department personnel, and after discussion, committee members asked for public comment.
Sgt. David Randall of the Calais Police Department said he did not know enough about the change to decide whether he was for or against it. Randall has served as interim police chief since Milburn resigned.
The sergeant said he was not interested in the public safety director’s position or the police chief’s job and had not applied for it. But he urged the councilors, regardless of their decision, to decide quickly.
“The Police Department needs somebody in charge right now. I’d like to think that I am doing a good job, I am doing my best,” he said. “But there needs to be some changes and to do that we need some leadership.”
Fire Chief Danny Carlow, who also is director of the Downeast EMS ambulance, said if the council decided to change how the departments were managed, they should do it only if it would be better for the residents. “It is nice to save money, but if public safety suffers, I have some real concerns for that,” he said.
The committee then recommended that the question be placed before the full council. After a five-minute recess, the council began its regular meeting.
Councilor Carl Royer noted that it was hard to find a qualified police chief, let alone a person to handle all three positions.
Councilor Joe Cassidy said it was an interesting concept but also questioned the delay in hiring a police chief.
After several minutes of discussion, it was clear the majority of the councilors did not favor the change so no action was taken.
Barnes now will begin interviews to replace the former police chief.