Wareham hires interim chief, but $166,000 salary draws selectman's ire
By Steve Decosta
sdecosta@s-t.com
April 13, 2011 12:00 AM

WAREHAM — Town Administrator Mark Andrews announced Tuesday that he has hired interim Police Chief Richard Stanley full-time, at a salary of $166,000, a move that was quickly confirmed by selectmen, 3-1.

But the one opposing vote was cast by an irate Selectman Stephen Holmes, who blasted his colleagues and Andrews, repeatedly asking where the money was coming from.

"I think this is insane," Holmes said. "The personal threats and everything else that's gone on with this is sickening."

Stanley will be paid about one-third more than his predecessor, Thomas Joyce, who retired in June 2009. Stanley, 55, has served as Wareham's interim chief since August 2009, while also serving as full-time chief in North Andover for $133,266 per year.

For the last several months, he has been telling North Andover that he planned to sever the relationship with Wareham.

Stanley has been negotiating with Andrews for the full-time job in Wareham for more than a year. Andrews called the appointment "a civil service transfer," and told the board he would "sign the agreement tomorrow morning" and "that's the end of the process."

But that didn't satisfy Holmes.

"Where is the money?" he asked. "The men and women in that department have been working for four years with-

out a new contract. Where is their contract? Where is their raise?"

Holmes claimed that, as of the beginning of March, the Police Department had spent all of its overtime budget through July 1, but Andrews said, "The Police Department will balance its budget this fiscal year."

"You're going to put in his contract to cut the overtime so that he gets a sweet deal," Holmes said.

Andrews argued, "We got him for what I consider a reasonable amount of money." He said Stanley's base pay will be $130,000, boosted by his educational achievements under the Quinn Bill.

Newly chosen selectmen Chairman Walter Cruz and newly elected selectmen Ellen Begley and Michael Schneider, attending their first regular selectmen's meeting, voted to confirm Stanley's hiring. Cara Winslow was absent.

Named interim chief in Wareham two months after Joyce retired, Stanley had been working several days a week in Wareham while holding the full-time position in North Andover, where he has been chief since 1986.

He made the 80-mile drive in a vehicle issued and paid for by Wareham.

When it was announced in March 2010 that an agreement had been reached in principle to make Stanley the permanent chief in Wareham, the chief said he was committed to remaining in North Andover at least until the department earned state accreditation and moved into a new police station.

The department was accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission in May and moved into the new station late last year.

Stanley also led the Wareham department to state certification; it became the 48th in the state to achieve that honor in January.

Stanley was widely praised by town officials for his work in Wareham, even though it was only several days a week.

And while his relationships with North Andover officials occasionally became strained while he served two communities, "I did not see any degradation of his services or commitment to the town," North Andover Town Manager Rees told the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune recently. "I know he spent a lot of time in Wareham, but he also spent a lot of time in North Andover. I never saw a lack of commitment while he was in Wareham."

Rees said last fall that Stanley did not enhance his pension by working in Wareham.