Gorham was expected to launch advertising on Wednesday in pursuit of filling its police chief position, vacant since last fall.
Police Chief Ronald Shepard, now a town councilor, retired on Nov. 4 and Lt. Christopher Sanborn has served as interim chief since.
Town Manager David Cole said Tuesday that a process to name a chief could take the town four months or longer. The town paid an agency $15,000 to help it hire a chief.
In its report, Dacri Associates of Kennebunk outlined traits that town officials said they would want in a new chief. Remarks included problem solver, articulate and someone like Shepard.
Residents interviewed for the Dacri report said they wanted a chief to maintain Gorham’s small-town feel and be visible in town “in and out of uniform.”
Cole said Tuesday the position would be advertised on websites including the town’s, Maine Municipal Association and the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.
The Dacri report recommended that Gorham conduct “an open search” for a chief and “invite Lt. Sanborn to become a candidate.” Sanborn, responding to an American Journal email on Tuesday, confirmed he’s planning to apply for job.
Sanborn, 45, joined the Gorham Police Department in 1989 as a patrol officer and moved up through the ranks. He was named a sergeant in 1992 and lieutenant in 2005.
Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, said Tuesday that it would assist Gorham in the selection process for a new chief. Schwartz said he and two chiefs, both from towns south of Augusta, would evaluate applications Gorham receives.
The three-member chiefs’ panel would then narrow the field of applicants to the top five candidates for the town to consider.
Bruce Roullard, Town Council vice chairman, said Tuesday that the top five would be presented to the Town Council for interviews. Roullard said the Town Council in partnership with Cole would make the final selection.
Gorham’s new chief will lead a department of 23 sworn police officers, two office staffers, and a part-time animal control officer. Cole’s proposed police department budget is $1.7 million, up $5,745 from this year.
For the fiscal year beginning July 1, Cole is requesting a police chief’s salary of $87,693, reflecting no increase for the position in the budget the Town Council approved last year.
Schwartz assisted Windham in its recent hiring of Kevin Schofield as the town’s new chief, who is starting with a salary of $76,355. In Westbrook, Police Chief Janine Roberts receives $93,840.
Cole appointed Shepard, a Gorham native, as the town’s chief in 1995. Shepard’s successor will become the town’s seventh full-time police chief since the department was founded in 1964.
“The application process will be an open process with applications being accepted and considered from qualified candidates outside as well as from any qualified candidates within the department,” Cole said.
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