Panel of 5 starts with 10 applicants for Gardner MA Police Chief
According to statements made by Mayor Michael Nicholson at an Appointments Committee Meeting on July 12, 2022, the Panel of Five has received a total of 10 applications and will review them later this week. First round of interviews will come sometime next week. At some point, the top 2 candidates will go to the Mayor, who anticipates making a recommendation to the City Council prior to the September meeting. The Mayor has previously stated that once he makes his pick from the top 2, he will make a 60 day temporary appointment.
Assistant City Solicitor Has Resigned
While Mayor Nicholson stated that the resignation was not due to the recent City Council vote denying a large raise, but instead due to an offer made by a different law firm out of the area, the departure was not a big surprise. Despite at least one City Councilor expressing his concern that denying the raise would lead to a departure, the City Council unanimously voted on July 5, 2022 to restrict the raise to the same 2% given to other City employees. The reason given for the raise request was a substantial increase in workload.
Other Topics
One of the other topics discussed was the reappointment of Sergeant Lauren Walter, who could not be present for the meeting due to working a double. Councilor Walsh said he would like to postpone decision on the reappointment until another meeting as he had some questions. The Committee agreed. Also, Paulette Burns came up for a reappointment to the Board of Assessors and was widely praised and easily approved for a reappointment recommendation. There was also a discussion about a Civil Service bill being considered by the Massachusetts House.
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