ORANGE — There’s no official job posting yet, but the Selectboard has pinned down some of the things it will be asking — and offering — a new police chief, including looking for a chief that will write grants.
Orange will be without a police chief on March 1, when Police Chief Craig Lundgren’s resignation takes effect. Lundgren is leaving the department after 35 years, the last four months of which he has been dual police chief of both Orange and neighboring Athol. He has not resigned the Athol position, and it is unclear if his position with Athol will change come March.
At Wednesday’s Selectboard meeting, the salary, job description and hiring process of an incoming police chief were discussed. The Selectboard will advertise the job after the Feb. 27 meeting, when it expects to receive a finalized description from human resources representative, Trish Barnes.
The Selectboard discussed a starting salary ranging between $95,000 and $105,000, comparable to area police chief salaries — although $95,000 would certainly be the “lower end,” said Selectboard Chairman Ryan Mailloux. The job will be posted for three weeks on websites and in media yet to be determined.
The job will be available for applicants currently serving in the Police Department, as well as outside applicants, simultaneously.
The Selectboard also discussed including a clause about grant writing in the job description, with Selectboard member Tom Smith noting that “it seems that it’s been a while,” since any sizeable grant was awarded to the police department.
Selectboard Vice Chairwoman Jane Peirce met with members of the police department before Wednesday’s meeting, and relayed that the officers are looking for “progressive-thinking, fair-minded leadership” that won’t disturb the police force’s cohesivesness.
“So many times we do things that affect people and we don’t ask them, and they’re the ones doing the job,” Peirce said. “They are a very cohesive, highly functioning unit.”
“Were not looking for somebody who is going to turn everything upside down,” she added.
The Selectboard is the ultimate hiring authority in the case of police chief, but it will be forming a screening committee, which will provide the three best-qualified applicants to the Selectboard to be interviewed.
Before the next Selectboard meeting, the town is reaching out to area police chiefs and retired police chiefs to see if they would serve on a screening committee, as well as candidate for the Selectboard William J. Wrigley, who has experience in town hiring processes and will likely be the fifth Selectboard member after March’s election, due to the seat being uncontested. Barnes, Town Administrator Gabriele Voelker and Brenda Anderson, administrative assistant at the Police Department, were also discussed as possible members of the screening committee.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.