ELLSWORTH, Maine — Following Ellsworth City Council's decision to place City Manager Glenn Moshier on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, many leaders and members of the community are questioning why Moshier was allowed to serve as both the city manager and the police chief to begin with.
Moshier was relieved of his duties as police chief in January, and city council members decided to follow suit after coming to a 6-0 vote on Monday. Councilmember Tammy Mote did not attend the meeting.
Ellsworth City Hall Administrative Assistant Maura Condon said the city cannot comment on why Moshier was placed on leave, and she said it's unclear how long the investigation will take.
But—community members like Harvard Austin said the decision was faulty from the start.
"I never felt that was a good situation," Austin said. "Did it really save anything? Looking at it now, looking at the situation we're in... we don't really have any coverage in the chief of police or the city manager."
With no confirmed information about the pending investigation, the recent controversy as a whole is weighing heavy on Hancock County Commissioner Bill Clark's heart.
"I'm really truly sorry to see the situation that's going on," Clark said.
Clark served as Hancock County sheriff for 34 years. With the two both serving in law enforcement, Clark said he's known Moshier for a long time.
"I think a lot of Glenn, and I admire his abilities," Clark said, speaking highly of Moshier.
Clark said he supports Moshier, and he's hoping that the conflict sorts itself out, but even he said appointing Moshier in a dual role was a bad decision.
"If the police department comes to the council with a request, for example, the council doesn't have the ability to turn to the city manager and say, 'OK, is there another side of this story that we should know? Is there more information that we should know about?'" Clark said.
For Clark, by appointing Moshier as both police chief and city manager, the lines that separate powers become faint. Clark said he believes appointing someone in a dual position as chief and city manager prevents law enforcement officials from fully upholding the law without trampling through muddy waters—recalling Moshier's first battle with the conflict of interest.
"One of Glenn's first things that he had to deal with in his dual role was the council saying we don't want you enforcing federal firearms laws," Clark said. "And that immediately put Glenn in a bind because as a police chief, he's sworn to enforce all laws."
With one foot in the police department and the other in city hall, one might question where the city gains.
Clark said the agreement can potentially save a municipality money by slightly increasing one salary to accommodate the increased workload generated by someone simultaneously fulfilling responsibilities for the two separate positions and canceling out the salary for the second separate position in total.
But city councilmember Steve O'Halloran, who has served on the council for three years, said that the narrative that placing Moshier in both roles would save the city money is "fuzzy math," and he explained he was not on the council when the decision was made.
O'Halloran said the council decides on the fiscal budget for the city and every department. He said he personally requests to review each department's W-2 earnings each year, and the cost of payroll for the police department has significantly increased since the decision was made to allow Moshier to function in both roles.
According to O'Halloran, a deputy chief role was added when Moshier took the permanent role as city manager three years ago. By adding this role, O'Halloran said it's likely that some of Moshier's duties were delegated to the deputy chief, and an additional salary was in turn created to compensate for the added role.
"You can say 'I'm going to save $50,000,' but then if you go hire somebody for 75 behind the scenes, then you haven't saved a dime," O'Halloran said. "And in my heart, I believe that's what went on."
Over a phone call, Ellsworth Police Department Deputy Chief Troy Bires confirmed that the chief deputy role was created three years ago when Moshier became city manager, and the police department did not have a chief deputy position before that time.
Bires said he is the only person that has served as chief deputy since the position was created. Bires is also assuming Moshier's duties while the internal investigation is ongoing, he said.
O'Halloran said in addition to the math not checking out, as city manager, Moshier is able to appoint himself every year as police chief, explaining that the council appoints leaders in all departments.
"The role itself has created financial cost involved in all of the shenanigans it has created," O'Halloran said. "You've got a person supervising himself and appointing himself. That's not healthy."
Despite O'Halloran's disdain for the decision and him being very transparent about he and Moshier frequently bumping heads when it came to decisions on how city money should be spent, O'Halloran said Moshier never allowed their disagreements to impact how he treated him outside of council doors.
O'Halloran raved about Moshier's work ethic, explaining that he got a lot of work done throughout the day, complimenting his competence. He said Moshier was efficient, and there was never a time when he made a request that Moshier didn't respond to promptly.
In O'Halloran's book, Moshier is a good man who made a mistake, he said, declining to clarify what the mistake was. He lent Moshier a piece of advice, emphasizing that tomorrow is always a new day.
"It's my wish that Mr. Moshier does not hide tomorrow by yesterday," O'Halloran said. "Two years from now, I want him to be on top of the world because he is a very nice individual."
City Planner Matthew Williams will function as interim city manager until the newly appointed city manager Charles Pearce assumes his role on April 1.
NEWS CENTER Maine has requested copies of the last four years of the police department's payroll documents, and this story will be updated as we learn more.