Deputy Chief will act as chief while the town looks for replacement.
By Tess Nacelewicz
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Copyright 2007 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
PORTLAND, Maine — The town of Falmouth soon will be looking for a new fire chief because Chief Cameron Martin has resigned after two years on the job, Town Manager Nathan Poore announced Monday. Poore said the chief cited personal reasons for his decision.
Deputy Chief Jay Hallett will be acting fire chief while the town searches for a permanent replacement for Martin, Poore said. He said he expects a search for a permanent replacement for Martin to start within two months.
Martin could not be reached for comment Monday. He wrote a letter of resignation dated Thursday, and his last day on the job was Friday. However, Poore said that he and the chief had been discussing the resignation for several weeks.
Under his contract with the town, Martin will get three months of severance pay, Poore said. He said the chief’s annual salary was $66,123.
Martin, who was assistant fire chief in Auburn for five years before starting the Falmouth job in January 2005, said in his letter that he wants to work in the private sector.
He wrote that it’s best for the town that he leaves now, while a consultant hired by the town is doing an organizational review of the fire and emergency medical services department. That way, Martin wrote, ''the organizational review process can be used to profile a new leadership structure.’'
Martin replaced Jim Robertson, who retired in 2004 after 17 years on the job. The jobs of chief and deputy chief are the only two full-time positions in Falmouth’s fire and emergency services department, which depends on 100 volunteers paid by the call. Martin was hired by former longtime Town Manager Doug Harris, whom Poore replaced last summer.
Poore said Martin parted with the town on good terms. In his letter, Martin said he is leaving ''with a positive feeling.’'
Poore suspended Martin for a week without pay in November for using a town pickup truck to take groceries and beer to his department’s annual barbecue in August and also for drinking beer before driving the truck. Poore said there was no evidence Martin was intoxicated but that his actions violated town policies.
Martin, in his letter, also referred to ''friction’’ with some department employees who didn’t like changes that Martin said he made to improve training, maintenance and safety.
Councilor David Libby, a former deputy chief of emergency medical services who retired in 2000, said Monday that he has heard that morale was low in the department. Libby said he doesn’t believe Martin had the right leadership skills to head such a volunteer department.