AUGUSTA First assignment Help

Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- One of the first major tasks for the city's new human resources director, Kristy Gould, is helping fill another key city position -- police chief.

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Police Chief Wayne McCamish will retire Dec. 17, after 37 years with the department.

Gould, of Gardiner, has a big role in a planned nationwide search for the city's next top cop. City Manager William Bridgeo said he, Gould and Assistant City Manager Ralph St. Pierre, will select the finalists for the police chief job.

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Gould started her city job on Monday.

She replaced Ellen Blair, of Brunswick, who left in July for a human resources position in Scarborough after 11 years in Augusta. "We're very, very sorry to see her go. She did terrific work here," Bridgeo said of Blair.

Seventy-three people applied for Blair's post, but Gould was not among them. Instead, Augusta officials recruited her away from a similar job with the city of Westbrook, at Blair's recommendation.

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"Ellen had worked with Kristy before and she recommended we reach out and try to recruit her, which is exactly what I did," Bridgeo said. "She lives in Gardiner with her husband and children, and this was an opportunity for her to advance her career much closer to home. We're delighted she decided to do that."

Bridgeo said Gould's skills, energy and enthusiasm mader her the unanimous pick of an independent review panel, and his top choice.

"I couldn't pass up an opportunity so close to home," Gould said. "Augusta is also another good-sized city and the people I talked to here really impressed me."

Prior to working in Westbrook, Gould was human resources director at Pine State Trading, which is based in Augusta and Hallowell. As the city's HR director, Gould will also direct HR for the Greater Augusta Utilities District.

She will make about $75,000 a year, Bridgeo said, about equal to Blair.

Bridgeo said he expects Gould to "marshal" the search for a new police chief so the city will have a replacement as soon as possible after McCamish retires.

"We'll need to get that recruitment going very quickly, so we can do a large search to get the best possible candidates to pick from," Gould said.

The police chief finalists selected by Gould, Bridgeo and St. NFL jerseys Pierre will undergo background checks, interviews, and review by an independent panel.

That panel will be overseen, Bridgeo said, by Don Gerrish, retired Brunswick town manager. Other members are expected to include: Gary Stenhouse, Derry, N.H. town administrator; Ed Googins, South Portland police chief and president of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association; Augusta resident Fernand LaRochelle, a retired prosecutor with the Attorney General's Office; and law enforcement representative in Maine recommended by a Teamsters NFL jerseys business agent to bring, according to Bridgeo, "a rank and file union perspective to the process."

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The city is also seeking a code enforcement officer. George Soucy retired just a week ago after 25 years with the city. His wife, June, is also retiring after many years with the city, as a human resources benefits specialist.

Soucy's retirement leaves Gary Fuller as the ci