Scotch-taped to the shelf next to his desk is Loudon Police Chief Kris Burgess’s May 2016 appointment paper from the select board.
Conspicuously missing is a signature by Burgess’s predecessor and current selectman, Bobby Fiske.
“I hang it up here as a sign of motivation,” Burgess said Tuesday night.
That paper reflects the start of an increasingly tense relationship between the two, Burgess said. The conflict has spilled over into and escalated at recent board meetings: Burgess says Fiske, who he worked under for a decade and once considered “a father figure,” is trying to control his old department.
Fiske, who has exercised his vote as select board member against Burgess’s hiring decisions in the past, has declined to publicly express what his concerns are.
Both men say they want to resolve the issue, though they disagree on how to do that. Burgess wants to hash it out in public, but Fiske, who doesn’t wish “to air any dirty laundry,” would like to sit and talk, one-on-one.
Neither happened at Tuesday’s select board meeting. Burgess entered into a non-public session with the board for a “personnel matter.” When he walked out, a number of the meeting attendees congregated in the driveway looked his way.
One shouted, “You didn’t get fired, did you?”
“No,” Burgess responded. “I didn’t get fired.”
Returning to his office after last night’s meeting, Burgess apologized to a visitor for the mess – he’s still renovating the room, making it his own 10 months into the new job.
But the chief has other things on his mind. He said his officers have been working long shifts with two full-time vacancies, a tough pill to swallow after Burgess had an ideal candidate all lined up.
Goffstown officer Emily Crosby was strongly recommended by Burgess to the select board as highly qualified and as a strong addition to the department.
But after Fiske asked to do a background check into her, Crosby declined the hiring offer from the town of Loudon.
“He’s setting me up for failure,” Burgess said. “Selectman Fiske never wanted me in the position I’m in.”
Fiske has withheld his support from another of Burgess’s potential hires, Pittsfield police chief Jeffrey Cain, a candidate for a part-time position.
Meeting minutes show there has also been disagreement about a raise for dispatcher and administrative assistant Janice Morin. Burgess and Fiske took opposite positions on the most appropriate salary for the employee of 33 years.
“He’s been making my life pretty miserable,” Burgess said. “It’s affecting me, it’s affecting my family … it doesn’t need to be this way.”
Fiske declined to get into any details about his dispute with Burgess.
“I’m not in a position to comment at this time,” he said Tuesday. “I’m sure that we’ll come to an amicable resolution in the near future. It needs to be addressed.”
Only once did the issue come up at Tuesday’s packed board meeting – just before it went into a nonpublic session. Burgess told the selectmen that if they wanted to address the conflict between himself and Fiske, he wanted it done in public.
The beef between former and current police chief wasn’t discussed at all. But Burgess said he doesn’t plan on backing down in future meetings.
“I won’t quit,” he said. “I promised the town I would do what’s best for the town – I’m sticking to my word.” He’ll do that as long as it takes, he said, until Fiske backs off.
“Let me do my job,” Burgess said. “When I mess up, we’ll talk about it.”
Fiske said he thought everything could be resolved with a private conversation. ”If we could just sit down – as I’ve repeatedly asked – sit down and just talk about it,” he said.