The Portland City Council on Monday unanimously confirmed Mark Dubois as the city’s new police chief.

Dubois, who currently serves as chief in Braintree, Massachusetts, is expected to start July 31 and will earn a salary of $165,000. His appointment was approved 7-0 with Councilors April Fournier and Mark Dion absent.

“He has extensive experience … in law enforcement, over 11 years as a chief in other communities in Massachusetts and he most recently was serving as chief in Braintree, Massachusetts, which has a lot of similar issues to Portland,” said City Manager Danielle West. “He brings a lot of great experience.”

Dubois replaces former Chief Frank Clark, who left the department in Nov. 2021 for a job in private security. Interim Police Chief F. Heath Gorham, who said he did not apply for the permanent job, is retiring effective July 1.

Dubois, 56, attended Monday’s council meeting in person. In a brief interview after his confirmation, he said he’s looking forward to starting, getting to know residents and tackling issues such as homelessness and staffing shortages. Braintree, where Dubois has worked since 2019, is a city of about 40,000 just south of Boston.

“I personally think transparency and communication are key to being successful,” Dubois said. “Letting the community know what we’re doing and how it’s happening is important. And also building relationships. I think it’s critical to have good relationships.”

As of February, the department had 29 open positions, including the chief, out of a staff of 187.

Dubois said he wants to focus on recruitment and retention as fast as he can. “It impacts all kinds of things like morale and (officers’) family lives,” he said. “It’s a priority to me to have the staffing levels as high as we can.”

He takes over shortly after residents in April called on the city and police department to take a tougher response to a neo-Nazi rally held downtown on April 1. Dubois said he has heard about the rally anecdotally but will need to find out more about it and the city’s response.

“That is something where we will have to communicate,” he said. “We will work with the administration here to resolve any issues about the information that was relayed to people, so they have some confidence in what took place and that it was appropriate.”

Prior to working in Braintree, Dubois served as chief in Maynard, Massachusetts, for seven years, and also worked in departments in Sutton, Northborough and Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the New England Law School and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State College. He also completed training at the FBI National Academy, according to information released by the city last week.

Dubois has spent his career in Massachusetts, but he and his family have for years owned a summer cottage in Old Orchard Beach, he said Monday. He said they just built a new house there where they intend to live year-round.

Only two people spoke during public comment on the appointment Monday. Resident George Rheault said he felt there was a lack of community engagement around the hiring process.

“I think we do have a solid candidate, but I am a bit concerned. Braintree, Massachusetts, is substantially smaller than Portland … There are obviously some differences with Portland’s stature as the de facto capital city and only real city in Maine,” Rheault said.

The police chief is one of the top jobs in city government, reporting directly to the city manager and responsible for nearly 200 employees plus an additional 36 at the regional communications and dispatch center.

The appointment of a new police chief was initially put on hold by West, who was an interim manager at the time and said she would let the next permanent manager name a new chief. The city decided in late 2022 to move ahead with the process and in February began advertising for the job.

Human Resources Director Anne Torregrossa told the council Monday that the city used a consultant, GovHR USA, to assist with the search, and received about 40 applicants. Nearly 300 people responded to a community survey about the search, with many citing trustworthiness, honesty and forthrightness as essential characteristics for the next chief.

In other news Monday, the council voted to postpone more than a dozen budget items as the city awaits more information on how much state funding for General Assistance will be available in the coming year. And they approved a resolve allowing the city to maintain the funding levels in the current budget until a new budget is approved.

The council also voted unanimously to postpone two orders for amended wage scales for police. The proposals call for a 14.5% increase in wages for officers, sergeants and lieutenants to make city wages more competitive and address the staffing shortages.

West told the council at the conclusion of Monday’s meeting that staff are now recommending that proposed changes to the city’s rent control ordinance scheduled to come back for action by the council in July be postponed until next spring.

“There have been some questions raised and additional discussion that wants to be had by the council, so due to our tight and crazy schedule this summer, we are recommending this item be postponed indefinitely this session,” West said.

She said the city could take up the proposal in the spring. Staff would also look to have a workshop on the proposal and the changes could potentially be on the ballot in June 2024 if the council decides to send them to voters.

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