The Riello appointment

I've heard from some folks - directly and indirectly - who questioned my refusal to reappoint Police Chief Riello. Many of you have already seen the following letter, titled "Replies To MacDonald Letter" which was published in the Tuesday, May 12, 2009 edition of the Falmouth Enterprise...


I have consistently argued for ample time to fully vet candidates for appointments. Among other things, I believe that the public should have an opportunity to provide input. When I have voted against a motion to appoint, I have noted that my opposition was due to philosophical reasons; I try to make it clear that I am not voting against the appointment, just the motion to appoint at that time.

In the case of Police Chief Riello's appointment, Town Manager Whritenour sent the selectmen a "heads-up" email on April 21, in which he stated that "a detailed packet of information" of the Chief's work would be given to us. He went on to state his hope that, "the Board can review this next week."

Review is not ratification, but when the agenda for April 27 was posted shortly thereafter, Chief Riello's appointment was there. Instead of reviewing, we were ratifying.

The Board must act on Mr. Whritenour's recommendation within 10 days, or the appointment is automatic. The formal request of ratification which accompanied Mr. Whritenour's packet of information was dated April 21, so even a one week continuance to May 4 was not an option if the board wanted a voice in the Chief's reappointment. The only way to review that material before the reappointment was for Mr. Whritenour to withdraw his request and resubmit it at a later date.

So, I made this request respectfully, with a clear explanation as to why. Because the reappointment did not need to be acted upon until June 30, there would be ample time for us to review the material and for Mr. Whritenour to make the recommendation at a later date. However, the board did not publicly support this.

I like Chief Riello. He and I have met, one-on-one, on several occasions to discuss various issues. I have praised him (among others) on my blog, and I periodically send the Chief emails praising the work of his officers. Mr. MacDonald is absolutely correct when he states that, "The uniform, manners, pride, and concern they [i.e., Falmouth's police officers] show the public does not go unnoticed by us."

That said; the appointments the selectmen make - including ratification of the town manager's appointments - are amongst the most important jobs of the selectmen. Every person I vote to appoint is a reflection on me - as a selectman and representative of the people of Falmouth. It is something I do not take lightly.

I am sorry if I disappointed Mr. MacDonald, but I would be disappointing far more people if I simply rubber-stamped an appointment.


...On Monday night, I let the other selectmen, the town manager, and the public, know that Chief Riello and I had sat down to review the information the town manager had provided to the board. It was a productive two hours, and I learned a lot.

For example, that stack of information actually originated with the Chief, who expressed his hope that the selectmen would review it. During our meeting he expressed pleasure with the fact that I had taken the time to read it.

And although there is a lot of talk about downsizing the town's fleet of vehicles - reducing the numbers, or getting smaller, more fuel efficient cars and trucks to lower our fuel use - there is precious little detail about how that will be done. The Chief's information included a section about replacing cruisers, so I asked about this.

Yes, in fact, the Chief did have plans to downsize some vehicles. It turns out that the cruisers, because of the equipment they must carry, might not be good candidates. However, there are departments using different platforms other than the Ford Crown Victoria - which Ford may be discontinuing anyway. On the other hand, there are vehicles, such as detective's cars, which could be replaced with smaller, more fuel efficient models.

As I noted Monday, I find the Chief to be a very approachable, forward-thinking individual, and I am happy to endorse his reappointment.