To the Editor:

Town Administrator Mark Andrews has been struggling to negotiate a contract with Interim Police Chief Richard Stanley. Or has he? It seems to me that the TA from North Andover and the Interim Chief are the ones setting the agenda for Wareham.

Let’s look at some facts:

Interim Chief Stanley has made some strides in public relations with the Town of Wareham, sending reports to the media for everything they have done. I commend him for those accomplishments, but they were being done before he arrived. I give him a B.

Police officers’ morale has been touted as the highest it’s ever been. Let’s examine that for a moment. Yes, they seem to like the job the chief is doing, but at what cost to the town? The overtime budget has been spent to the tune of just under $600,000. I would think that, at that price, many officers would be happy. If you examine the town’s 2010 Annual Report, most of the highest paid town employees are police officers, and many have earned about 40% over their base pay in overtime. How will the morale be when police officers have to go back to earning their base pay, because overtime needs to be cut to save the budget and pay Stanley’s salary, and these officers have not had a raise or updated contract in 3 years?

Policies and procedures have been updated. Well, anyone with a computer and a Word document could have updated these. Let’s give him a C because it had not been done in so long, and it has not yet been completed. Again, these were already started before he arrived.

The accreditation goal is admirable. Let’s give him an A+ for that effort and eventual achievement. Being mindful that Lt. Wallace actually started this ball rolling.

Fiscal management is a very important aspect of being a department head. The overtime budget this fiscal year has been spent by $585,000 and counting. His own contract was overspent by $30,000. The auditor’s report specifically mentions the Police Department’s lack of accounting practices when it comes to police details and the documentation of receivables to the tune of $63,000. Cruisers bought with a grant for the first payment, still costing the Town $50,000 per year? The chief stated that, if the town could not afford them, he would take it out of the department’s budget, which is already busted!!! Interim Chief Stanley has been here well over a year and a half, so his track record in fiscal management has been established. Let’s gives him an F in fiscal management.

Now he is trying to cut a sweet deal with Wareham. Speculation puts the salary anywhere from $160,000 to $175,000, and one of his goals would be to cut overtime over the next three years. To sum it up: He would get his sweet deal on the backs of his officers. How would morale be then?? Definitely an F, and shameful on his part.

Just say ‘no,’ Mr. Andrews!

Wareham has fine officers within the department that can lead our own into the future, at a price the town could afford -- and giving the rank and file the message that there are promotional opportunities within the department.

Liz McDonald

Maple Springs Road

This letter appeared in the April 7 edition of Wareham Week.