ROCKLAND – Rockland City Council has extended the City’s retire/rehire policy for all employees, but one in particular.

Rockland Police Chief Chris Young is scheduled to retire in January 2021, based on a City policy limiting the amount of years an employee can serve. After two years leading the force, the chief is not ready to hang up his badge.

Created with the City’s firefighters and police in mind, the employee handbook retire/rehire policy currently allows employees at their 25-year date to either retire with full benefits, or negotiate a rehire for up to three additional years. The employees are currently allowed to negotiate their pay salary up to 90%.

However, City officials are now believing that three years is too short. And, when City Manager Tom Luttrell researched similar policies used by other municipalities, he was told that those towns had issues with the 90% maximum. Based on this, the City is now proposing unlimited negotiation.

“What we have experienced in the past is some of these gentlemen, or young ladies, will retire after 25 years and go work for another community,” said Luttrell, during the December 14 Council meeting. “So why not keep their talent and their expertise right here in the City?”

Therefore, Council is proposing to allow the City Manager to negotiate rehire salary or hourly rates on a year-by-year basis for no more than five years.

“But we did recognize, basically, that everybody should have an ending point in their career and allow other individuals to step up, be promoted through the ranks,” he said.

Councilor Louise MacLellan verbalized her hesitancy to create ordinances and amendments for the sake of one individual. In this case, though, she was in favor, saying that filling the chief’s role would be very difficult.

“We’ve got a great police force,” she said. “However, that said, I don’t think there’s anybody right now that could replace Chief Young.”

MacLellan cited multiple examples of what Young has done for the community in the past year.

“I know that he cares deeply about Rockland, and deeply about our community,” she said. “He also participated in many of the events over the last year, as far as Black Lives Matter. He has dispatched employees as he has needed to. He’s given us a record, or history, of really responding to concerns of our community.”

Councilor Nate Davis has received some negative feedback regarding the amendment, yet stated favor for retaining valuable employees. At the same time, Davis acknowledged that he has puzzled over the amendment, and has difficulty knowing what the long term costs and benefits would be for the City as a whole. Will this end up costing the City thousands of dollars more in the long run?

With the rehires reapplying each year, Councilor Sarah Austin voted with confidence that the budget can remain sensible while the City retains the trained personnel maintaining the “pivotal roles in our community” with competitive wages.

“Right now I think that there is argument to be made that you don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish when you are talking about the quality of the people that we are hiring for these kinds of leadership roles,” she said.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com