City of Ellsworth Places Glenn Moshier on Paid Leave from City Manager Position

The City of Ellsworth has placed City Manager Glenn Moshier on paid leave after the Council met in Executive Session for 3 hours on Monday, March 5th, according to the Bangor Daily News.

The City sent out a notice to the Press on Monday morning, March 5th stating that

"The Ellsworth City Council will hold an emergency executive session Monday, March 4, 2024 at 5:00PM to in accordance with 1 MRSA § 405-6E to have consultations with legal counsel about the rights and duties of the body.

AGENDA:

Call to Order

Motion to enter executive session

Motion to exit executive session

It was at the end of that the vote was 6-0,. to put Moshier on paid leave, and to give Council Chair, Michelle Beal the authority to appoint an interim City Manager. The Council has appointed Charles Pearce as the new City Manager, and he is expected to begin that position on April 1st. The Council is expected to ratify the contract with Pearce at their March 18th meeting

Councilor Tammy Mote was not present for the vote. Her husband Kelvin, is a Corporal with the Ellsworth Police Department and has been employed by the Ellsworth Police Department since 1999, coming from the Hancock County Sheriff's Office where he worked in the jail.

Moshier is now on leave as both the Police Chief, (since December) and City Manager. There have been public reasons as to why he was placed on leave. Moshier had announced his intention not to seek a renewal of his City Manager's contract in July 2023, with the intent of returning to his position as Poiice Chief..

As recently as January 8th, the City of Ellsworth had extended Moshier's contract as City Manager for 1 year, or until a new manager is in place, whichever comes first.

Moshier was appointed police chief by David Cole in February of 2017. He had been the interim chief since Chief Bickmore resigned on  December 30, 2016

When City Manager David Cole announced his resignation, the Ellsworth City Council unanimously appointed Moshier as Interim City Manager.  Moshier began the interim role on September 8, 2020 and worked with Manager David Cole through September 21, 2020 which was Cole’s last employment day.

On December 22, 2020 it was announced that the Ellsworth City Council was appointing Moshier as the permanent City Manager. According to the story in the Ellsworth American Moshier was not one of the 18 applicants who applied for the position.

When appointed as City Manager, Council Chair Dale Hamilton said "The City Council unanimously approved a recommendation to enter into negotiations with Glenn Moshier for the City Manager position. Chief Moshier has a long history of demonstrated leadership and collaboration. The Council believes that Chief Moshier possesses the skills that are consistent with the feedback gathered from the community and department heads. The Council is hoping to reach agreement with Chief Moshier in the next week or two.'

Since Moshier's appointment as City Manager, the entire 7 members of the Ellsworth City Council are new.

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