Ashby Police Chief calls it quits

Police Chief Steve McLatchy tenured his resignation effective June 19 after working in the position for more than two years.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Peter McMurray said that McLatchy was burned out after covering the administrative roles of the department as well as patrol shifts.

"He wants to leave on good terms," McMurray said. "He's got job burnout. He just couldn't do it anymore."

McLatchy's departure leaves the small department one chief down and one patrolman short. He

has told selectmen that he will continue to covering court hearings and work with the interim chief to learn the department and the computer system.

Selectmen appointed Bill George as the interim chief at their June 14 meeting.

George, a retired police chief, will serve until a new chief is appointed or until he uses up his 960 hours allowed under his pension plan. He will be working three days a week, McMurray said.

"We needed someone in place," he said.

McLatchy's resignation caused the selectmen to reconsider the salary position, so they meet with the finance committee on June 19 to discuss the possible changes in salary.

Selectmen agreed at the end of a 90minute discussion to set the salary range for the position between $65,000 and $70,000 depending on the candidate they hire.

Finance Committee Chairman Dan Meunier said his concern is not for providing the salary during fiscal year 2007 because he thinks they can use the reserve fund or free cash. But he said he was concerned about the sustainability of salary too much higher than McLatchy.

The increase is $15,000 over McLatchy's salary.

"We pay on the backside (of a bad hire) then we are paying up front," said Selectman Gerald Houle.

Selectmen differed on the salary increases.

McMurray said he did not want to see a salary in the low to mid-$60,000. Houle said he thought a salary range should be $67,000 to $70,000, while Selectman Geoff Woollacott thought the range should be $70,000 to 75,000.

"The baits got to be there," Houle said. "The 70s got to be there."

McMurray expressed concerns that if the police chief's salary was increased too much then there would be dissention among the other department heads.

"We have an issue boiling ... we're going to have a bigger issue boiling," he said.

Town Administrator Linda Sanders said the department heads acknowledge there is a change that is need for this position but they want the selectmen to solve the problem of underpaid staff in a general sense as well.

Woollacott said the only way to get stability in is to pay a reasonable salary.

The selectmen have hired Steve Unsworth, the founder of BadgeQuest, to serve as the consultant in hiring a police chief.

McMurray said the board asked him to present three finalists to them.

The board wants someone with a bachelor's degree and management experience.

"We can't go out and look for a young guy who is out to prove himself," said McMurray.

Finance committee members voted to approve the use of $7,500 from the reserve fund to pay for BadgeQuest services and transferring $3,000 within the police department budget to cover supplemental chief duty days.