A New Police Chief For Ridgely

Chief Merl Evans resigned December 1st. He was a dedicated public servant and I wish him well with his future endeavors.

In the past, Ridgely has formed search committees composed of citizens to select new police chiefs as well as a new town manager. It is important that this tradition be returned to. The current police chief was chosen by the town manager, and whether you like the job he did or not, the process by which he was appointed, undermined Ridgely's democratic traditions. The commissioners found out about the appointment in the newspaper. This should never happen again. With the still unresolved budget problems, we certainly need to carefully pick a new chief who will be able to provide our community the most for our increasingly limited tax dollars.

There are also town residents who have criticisms of our town police and now is the time for their voices to be heard. The list of critics starts with two of our town commissioners, Chuck Hunter, and Kathy Smith. I call upon our town commission to once again appoint a cross section of citizens to select a new police chief.