Ellsworth’s elected city council on Monday extended the city manager contract for Glenn Moshier, who is on leave as the city’s police chief, for up to a year.
Moshier, who has been Ellsworth’s police chief since 2017, has also held the position of Ellsworth’s city manager since 2021, but his contract was due to expire next week, on Tuesday, January 16.
Neither Moshier, members of the city council, nor officials with the local police department have said why Moshier is on leave or otherwise commented on the situation.
The city is in the process of looking for a new city manager, after Moshier told the council last summer that he planned to step down as city manager and return to being only Ellsworth’s police chief. Moshier’s dual role with the city has been roundly criticized by some residents who say that both positions should be full-time jobs and that there should be more separation of the two roles, so that the police chief can be subject to oversight by a city manager.
Since January 2021, when Moshier signed a 3-year contract to be Ellsworth’s city manager, there has been 100-percent turnover on the council. None of the seven people who were councilors and signed Moshier’s employment contract three years ago remain on the council today.
Casey Hanson, a member of the city council who is chair of the council’s human resources committee, said Monday that the city has interviewed five candidates for city manager and hopes to narrow the list to two or three in the coming weeks. If all goes well, the city will hire a new city manager in the next couple of months, she said.
But while Moshier will continue working as Ellsworth’s city manager for now, it is not clear how long he will be on leave as police chief. Michelle Beal, the council chair, confirmed at the end of Monday’s council meeting that Moshier remains on leave, but declined to say how long that might be the case.
Moshier said last week that he would be on leave as police chief pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
Deputy Police Chief Troy Bires, who has overseen the day-to-day operations of the police department since Moshier became interim city manager in 2020, continues to run the department while Moshier is on leave as chief.
During Monday’s meeting the council held two executive sessions with Moshier, both about personnel matters. Tammy Mote, a city councilor whose husband works for the police department, did not participate in the first executive session, after which the council voted 4-2-1 to take no action. Councilors Steve O’Halloran and Jon Stein voted against taking no action, while Mote abstained from the vote.
Immediately following the second executive session, the council voted 6-1 to extend Moshier’s city manager contract for up to a year, with O’Halloran opposed.
Earlier in the meeting, Beal presented Moshier with a recognition of his 20 years with the police department.
