PARIS — Two weeks after Police Chief Michael Madden publicly apologized to the town for his drunken-driving arrest and conviction, he was appointed to serve as interim town manager.
Paris selectmen unanimously approved the chief’s appointment without discussion Monday night. Madden will oversee the town during Town Manager Amy Bernard’s 12-week maternity leave.
“It gives the chief an opportunity to rehab his image in public,” Selectman Janet Jamison said Tuesday. “Before, he didn’t get any opportunity to comment on this whole baloney with his drunk driving. I think he’s a decent person. We all screw up and we all deserve a second chance. … Some people get second, third and fourth chances after heinous behavior.”
An executive session regarding Bernard’s temporary replacement was held two weeks ago, and she previously said the topic would be discussed in public. But on Tuesday, Bernard said she wasn’t sure why the selectmen chose not to elaborate during Monday’s meeting. If someone had asked a question, she said they would have answered it.
Bernard doesn’t have a set day her maternity leave will start, but her due date is Wednesday, May 27.
“I am going to try to work until I have him,” she said about her son.
Bernard said she gave the board two recommendations for filling her shoes while she’s gone. One was Madden and another isn’t a town employee. She declined to name the person, citing contract negotiations.
“They asked me if I was OK with the chief. I told them, ‘I gave you both of them. I recommended both of them,’” Bernard said. “I vetted my other choice very well.”
Asked if she had full confidence in Madden to lead the town, Bernard said, “I am not going to even comment on that.”
Jamison shed some light on the board’s decision Tuesday. She said it was best to have the chief lead the town in Bernard’s absence since he would be around anyway. The town wouldn’t have to pay an outsider who’s not familiar with the town’s situation, she said, which would have amounted to a lot of money per hour and mileage for 12 weeks.
Madden, of Harrison, was arrested in November 2014 for operating under the influence in his personnel vehicle in Naples. In early April, he accepted a plea deal for operating under the influence, a Class D misdemeanor. His license was suspended for 150 days and he was levied a $500 fine.
Prior to the deal, Bernard suspended Madden without pay for 30 nonconsecutive days, which began April 2. She previously declined to reveal when the chief’s suspension was up.
Madden wasn’t allowed to drive for the first 30 days of his driver’s license suspension, but paid for a lock device to be installed in his personal vehicle and town police cruiser to allow him to drive for the remaining 120 days. The lock device requires the driver to blow into it to turn the ignition on and randomly requests that action while in motion.
Also on Monday night, selectmen unanimously appointed Highway Director Jamie Hutchinson to fill in as temporary road commissioner during Bernard’s maternity leave. Hutchinson and Madden were sworn in by Town Clerk Liz Knox. Bernard appointed Knox to serve as primary deputy tax collector and treasurer during her absence.
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