Town resident Andrew Fox, son of former police Chief Thomas Fox and a state trooper out of Lee, asked Select Board members Jason Boyer, Pandora Hague and Chairman Keith Cortis the process by which they selected Dubiel for the position.
RUSSELL – Town officials were questioned last night regarding the recent appointment of a new police chief and were criticized for failing to interview a candidate with 25 years of experience and instead hiring one with three years in law enforcement.
Resident Andrew T. Fox, son of former police Chief Thomas Fox and a state trooper out of Lee, asked Select Board members Jason Boyer, Pandora Hague and Chairman Keith Cortis the process by which they selected Chief Jennifer Dubiel for the part-time position.
“The process was not fair by any stretch of the imagination,” he said when speaking in support of job candidate John “Jack” Godfrey, 61, of Montgomery.
Godfrey, contacted at home after the meeting Tuesday evening, said he learned of the opening from a posting at Town Hall and submitted his application materials by the closing date of July 9. The board, consisting of Hague and Boyer in Cortis’ absence, appointed Dubiel the following evening at its July 10 meeting without interviewing Godfrey for the job, the only other candidate.
Godfrey retired as a trooper at the Russell State Police barracks after 25 years, was the head of security at Stanley Park in Westfield for two years, holds a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice, is a graduate of the police academy and a former United States Marine and Vietnam veteran.
Dubiel, a Westfield resident, is a full-time police officer at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, graduated from a special state police academy for campus police, has been a Russell police officer for the past three years, rising to the rank of sergeant, and is currently studying for an associate’s degree in criminal justice at Holyoke Community College.
Fox asked the Board of Selectmen to rescind its decision to appoint Dubiel and start the process over again in a fair manner.
“How do you justify not rescinding your decision in the name of a fair process,” Fox said.
Hague and Cortis questioned Godfrey’s commitment to the position in light of the fact that he did not attend the meeting to speak on his own behalf.
“How badly does he want it if he’s not willing to come to the meeting,” Hague said.
Fox said that because Godfrey is not a Russell resident he did not feel comfortable addressing the Select Board, a point that Godfrey confirmed.
“I’m not a resident of Russell, but I will be more than happy to speak with them,” he said.
Godfrey said he would like to see the position reopened and governed by an independent evaluation system because Boyer and Hague “have already expressed they don’t want me.”
“I can’t get a fair and impartial interview from those two,” he said. “I’d like to see two fair and independent people interview me and my references and look at my qualifications, and if they still want her, I’ve got to accept that.”
Godfrey said he has no hard feelings against Dubiel personally, but “the bottom line is that I am vastly more qualified for that position than she is, and I was wronged by an unfair appointment of that person. In my heart of hearts, I do not believe that Jason (Boyer) and Pandora (Hague) actually read my resume. I find it hard to believe.”
Dubiel, who was at Town Hall at the time of the meeting, declined to comment.