Though the Webster select board was celebrating the town’s past in the 225-year-old meeting house Monday, board members couldn’t help but be reminded of the future as residents pushed them to speed up the police chief hiring process.
Several taxpayers cited concerns about speeding cars on the roadways and the now one-man police force, after select board members accepted Officer Dan Shapiro’s resignation Monday.
“We need new cops in town,” resident John Clark said. He told the board that driving along Route 127, tire marks were clearly visible from people doing doughnuts in the roadway.
“Seeing these types of things really makes it look like a trashy town, and we’re not,” Clark said. “We need to support our police department. Let’s get it done.”
Several others wondered whether the hiring process, which has gone through several iterations since former police chief Robert Dupuis tendered his resignation in October and officially finished the job in February, would be complete soon.
“We are following through with the process we set up,” select board Chairman Bruce Johnson said.
In early July, the Webster select board announced that it had decided to hire a part-time police chief in the face of low application numbers and financial constrictions for a full-time position, which was originally advertised in March.
The process, the select board said, would have an oral review board, made up of law enforcement officers and one resident, look over applications and narrow the pool down to four candidates for the select board to inspect.
“We’ll be interviewing soon,” Johnson said.
Webster Road Agent and fire Chief Emmett Bean asked how many people applied for the position, but Johnson, in keeping with the decided-upon process, he said, declined to specify.
“There’s been some applications to the oral review board, and they recommended some to us,” Johnson said.
Clark told the board that he was happy with the oral review board and felt like the hiring process needed to speed up given what’s happening on the roadways.
“We’ve got to move,” he said. “You three people need to be behind the police department.”
This feeling was heightened by the loss of half of the two-man department Monday. Interim police Chief Phil Mitchell said last night that he knew Shapiro was going to a different department, but did not know where.
“We’re not comfortable having one police officer,” selectman Mike Borek said. “It’s coming about soon.”
The new chief, with a $56,000 to $60,000 salary and no benefits, will oversee two full-time officers, a part-time administrator and a $300,000 budget.