Town council votes down hiring police veteran

A divided Dumfries Town Council voted Tuesday against hiring a Prince William County police veteran as its new part-time chief and instead decided to readvertise the position as full time.

New council members Kristin Forrester, Jerry Foreman and Michele Jurgensen along with Willie Toney voted against hiring retired Prince William Police Maj. Daniel Taber as the town's new police chief on a part-time basis. Taber served as one of three assistant chiefs before he retired after 37 years with the force.

On a motion made by Forrester, the same four voted to readvertise the job as full time with a salary range between $65,000 and $75,000.

The votes were taken after a closed session at the conclusion of the council's monthly meeting and long after the crowd who attended had gone home.

Several residents had come out to express support for the police force after rumors spread around town that Forrester was going to make a motion to disband it.

Forrester did not and told the crowd that it was a misunderstanding. On Wednesday, however, she said she had hoped to make a motion to put a 30-day freeze on the hiring process for the police department, including the chief, until "other options could be explored."

The council had met in closed session before its meeting to interview Taber and another candidate for the chief position. During deliberations following the interviews, Forrester said it became apparent that some council mem-bers were not interested in her idea of a freeze so she never brought it up in public.

"I don't know why we can't have grown-up discussions without it getting personal," she said in describing the two sessions.

Following the second session at the conclusion of the meeting, Dumfries Vice Mayor Nancy West made the motion to hire Taber. Mayor Fred Yohey and Councilwoman Dorothea Barr voted with West.

"I cannot tell you how disappointed I am about all this," West said Wednesday.

"I think it was a very big loss for the town that he was turned down," said Dumfries Town Manager Kimberly Alexander said. "He was an absolutely excellent candidate."

Alexander said the previous council had decided to advertise the position as a part-time job in order to tap into the pool of retired police veterans. They are prohibited by the Virginia Retirement System from working more than 32 hours a week for another organization that is part of the system such as the town of Dumfries while receiving their retirement money.

Retired Prince William Police Maj. Ray Colgan has been working part-time as the town's acting police chief under these provisions since March.

Alexander also said employing a part-time chief would save the town money since it is not required to pay the per-son benefits which could add between $10,000 and $20,000.

West said given the improvements to the police department and the additional respect it has gained under Col-gan's leadership, she felt that another veteran officer such as Taber would be able to continue the work in a part-time capacity.

Forrester said her votes should not be taken as a statement against Taber.

"I was not voting against the person, I was voting against the position," Forrester said. "I just didn't think it was the best way to go."

Forrester said she has always disagreed with the previous council's decision to pursue a part-time chief. She recently told the town manager and other council members such in an e-mail.

Additionally, soon after being elected but before taking office on July 1, Forrester -- along with Foreman - made several budget suggestions including salaries to the sitting council.

She stated that the town salaries were too high and did research to point out that a full-time police chief could be found to work for far less than the $80,000 pay-range the town had advertised for a part-time chief.

"You can get a decent police chief who will work for a reasonable range," she said.

Others disagree.

"I don't think we will get many qualified applicants," West said.

"I do not believe we will be able to get someone of [Taber's] caliber at that salary range," Alex-ander said. "I hope I'm wrong but I will be surprised."

Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-530-3907.