Windham Police Department pursues organizational restructuring By Stephen Signor

On April 20^th, 2015, Kevin Schofield became chief of the Windham Police Department. Since then it has been established that there is a more effective way to run his department. Last Tuesday, at the town council meeting, Schofield and Lieutenant James Boudreau presented a proposal for departmental restructuring that would potentially eliminate the need for overtime, increase efficiency and provide an improved, safer environment for patrol officers; all with little or no cost to the town.

To accomplish this, a Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the department was developed. “Shortly after becoming chief, I began assessing the police department from several different aspects, to include the organizational rank structure. During my first couple of months, I met with people meeting one-on-one with many of the staff to go over what areas they can improve, what new projects/functions they should do, what are their strengths and what current functions can they do away with,” Schofield explained.

The current administrative structure of the chief and the lieutenant was developed in 1982. “I’m not saying it’s not valid but the world has changed in 35 years; and most certainly the Windham Police Department,” acknowledged Schofield.

So what does it take to run a police department?  “In my ten years of managerial experience in three different communities, it changes significantly. Those changes revolve around updating mandated policy, mandated training, mandated regulatory issues and grant preparation for acquiring the tools necessary to perform their duties. These take a lot of man hours,” Schofield said.

To this end, an internal methodology committee was born, to get more detailed feedback. “The committee I formed consist of Lieutenant Boudreau, Sergeant David Bonneau, Detective Paul Cox and Officer Jason Burke and charged to render feedback through the use of a survey so that we all have a buy-in to put input into the department,” said Schofield.

All facets of the organization were represented. “We had a good cross section of the department which then developed a survey to distribute to the rest of the staff,” continued Schofield. This committee was then charged with reviewing, making recommendations, and then generating a report.

The end result was the recommendation to create a two-assistant-to-deputy chief structure, where one person would be in charge of patrol operations and the other would support investigations and support services. “With this recommendation is the elimination of our currently hourly administrative sergeant position,” said Schofield.

The span of control and areas of responsibility of the administrative sergeant position is deemed as far too broad. “Currently the administrative sergeant supervises six various positions and also performs several administrative functions including but not limited to scheduling, vehicle inventory and maintenance as well as property procurement,” explained Schofield.

The second facet of the proposal was to create a detective sergeant position that would maintain a level of investigative responsibilities. This position would also perform first line supervision such as case management review and also functioning as department court liaison officer.

“The advantages of doing this (is) that it would clearly define administrative roles as they pertain to each division of the department, creates a defined chain of command, helps alleviate (the) amount of current paperwork, creates more managerial capacity within the department and opens opportunities for nationally recognized opportunities like the FBI and NA (National Academy),” said Schofield.

“What’s real important to me, and a goal I hope to achieve is create more managerial opportunities in the department. Someday when I decide to hang it up for good, nothing would satisfy me more than to have one of the officers in this room to be able to sit at my desk,” concluded Schofield.

Little time was wasted in digesting this proposal. Without hesitation, council chair Donna Chapman said, “I think it looks like we should be putting this into the upcoming budget. I support this because we’ve grown as a community and the police department hasn’t grown to keep up with that.”

Like any restructuring, it is difficult to forecast what the budgetary implications would be. To this end, councilman Tim Nangle raised the question of the potential financial obligation to the town.

“Based on prior experience and the fact this change does not add a sergeant position, I would anticipate the impact on the budget to be negligible in either direction,” responded Schofield.  To further reiterate, “My intent is to utilize internal personnel. As far as an added cost, my proposal would eliminate the sergeant position. Somebody would be promoted which would require an increase in base salary, but with the potential loss of need for overtime, that amount would be decreased or eliminated altogether,” continued Schofield.

It was agreed by all council members, that Chief Schofield put together a worst case scenario of potential financial obligations that the town may need to absorb. A February 7^th meeting was tentatively scheduled for further discussion and to review information requested by the council that could be presented to the finance committee.

 

“Our goal tonight was simply to share these ideas with you to give you the opportunity to ask questions, not to look for any conclusions or consensus. It may take more time for people to process this. The plan at this point would be to do what we did with the budget for last year (which) is to use the strategic plan as a starting point,” concluded town manager Tony Plante.

Lion King Jr. roars with talent By Stephen Signor

Emma Bennet (sitting) plays the role of Nala

On an afternoon following a successful opening night, director Mary Wassick stood center stage at the Windham Performing Arts Center. She was to greet yet another impressive turnout for this lively stage adaptation of the Academy Award-winning, 1994 Disney film Lion King, Jr., presented by the Windham Middle School. Made possible by the cast, staff and the community, there was good reason to pre-empt the show with many words of thanks. With 160 rehearsal hours and 58 plus volunteers, there was much praise to give.

“The cast has worked very hard, having begun preparing for this show back in October, and I’m so happy to see the continued support from our community,” said Wassick. With nearly 80 overall volunteers, many of them without children in the middle school, contributing to productions like this one, there was plenty of thanks to go around.

Among those numerous volunteers, were four Windham High School students who were part of an all important crew. One of them was assistant director Libby McBride, a junior who had been asked by Wassick if she would like to help with the show.

“I grew up doing plays with Mary at WCST (Windham Community Stage Theater) in middle school,” shared McBride. “I’ve never been a director or anything like that, so when asked, I was beyond excited! I have always been an actor, singer; always on the stage. To be behind the scenes was great! It’s been really fun. I’ve really enjoyed it,” she continued.

When the curtain rose it was immediately obvious that the cast of characters were enjoying

themselves and feeling quite comfortable in costumes made possible by volunteer Becky Merriman. Her 300 to 400 hours of time investment was obvious. “I started collecting materials for the costumes in June of last year immediately after the conclusion of the Shrek show,” shared Merriman.

“This production was probably the most complicated with a cast of 40, that task was obviously daunting,” she said. There are 170 costumes and that doesn’t count how many pieces are involved in each one. There are a lot of moving parts,” confirmed Merriman. Has it been worth it? “It’s been a great time! I love working with Mary and Angela.”

During the first act it was evident the players were in their comfort zone, feeding off the numerous responses of laughter and applause after each and every exit for quick set changes. The set was built by middle school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teacher Jason Lanoie; another dedicated volunteer who spent his time off from teaching during school vacations to work on the set. 

“It was the only time available to do this, but I enjoyed being part of the show,” said Lanoie.

In the audience was Nicky Calden, mother of Molly who played Timon. Now 13, “Molly has been doing this at multiple theaters since the age of eight, most recently as the donkey in Shrek,” said Calden. The character of Timon requires a comedic demeanor and according to crowd response, Molly’s previous role as Donkey paid off.

With intermission came time for a look behind the scenes. Back stage cast and crew were preparing for costume changes that involved face painting as well as garments. The transformation was seamless and not without a little age-typical banter and a willingness to share their thoughts.

In particular, were 11-year-old Morgan Wing (young Simba), Chloe Allen (one of the hyenas) and Daphne Cyr (Zazu) who shared their young passion for the theater and the fun they have working together.

“This is a lot of fun. I enjoy doing this and performing with the other kids,” said Wing. They all agreed, as they will be performing together again in the upcoming junior version of The Wizard of Oz.

After the show and a well deserved standing ovation, Wassick would reveal the nature of a successful weekend. “As for opening night, it was fabulous! Probably one of the best I’ve seen.” And she should know, having been involved in theater for 19 years; nine of those with Windham Middle School. The total count for the first two days hovered around 700.

“I just want to thank Windham Middle School for keeping the drama program alive and giving all of these great kids an outlet to express themselves and have fun. I have a tremendous amount of support. It makes me thankful everyday that Windham has such a strong regard for the arts,” said Wassick.

Despite rain, WPS's firstfa ll Festival a huge success - By Stephen Signor

Rain did not keep Halloween fanatics from showing up at 404 Gray Road last Saturday for Windham Primary School’s first ever Fall Festival. 

“In June we started thinking about ideas about an event and landed on the Fall Festival, something for all ages with a theme,” shared principal Dr. Kyle Rhoads. 

Although the weather forced most of the events to be moved inside no one seemed to care. Several classrooms were the showcase for such events like a ring toss over pumpkins, face painting and a treasure hunt where two kiddy pools were filled with leaves that hid prizes for the taking. The main hallway was abuzz with children engaging in games like the apple toss and having their picture taken while placing their smiling faces into corn stalks and other seasonal selfie booths.

Meanwhile the cafeteria was the scene of pumpkin decorating. Two young for using carving tools, the children decorated donated pumpkins with stickers to take home. The library was the scene of a scavenger hunt. There were hidden objects in plain sight to be found by seekers and treats to be rewarded.

Outside a dunk tank was set up that proved to be very popular. Despite the rain, children lined up to take a shot at four brave souls who volunteered to get wet. For $1, those aspiring to hit their target were given three bean bags. Staff members secretary Corey McAllister, social worker John Reidy, noon monitor Jason Farley and last but certainly not least principal Rhoads endured the rain and accurate arms of paying customers. 

The staff’s popularity was obvious even before the day of the festival. “Well, we made announcements over the intercom on Thursday listing the activities that would be available. The dunk tank was most by far what the kids were talking about,” said Rhoads. The notion of this activity came naturally. “The dunk tank was my idea. Thankfully it was purchased by the PTA and eventually paid for by contributions,” continued Rhoads. 

In response to the weather, Rhoads said “Even though it was rainy outside, it was sunny inside for sure. The kids are having a blast and that’s all we wanted to do.” 

There was no letting up in the attendance the entire four hours. “I’m impressed with how it has gone today. At one point we had the hallway pretty packed with families. The PTA has been a great help along with staff and family volunteers. Volunteer coordinator Michelle Jordan was instrumental in getting volunteers and organizing the event. It’s a team effort. It shows community support also,” said Rhoads. 

 

Parent advisory group at the primary school, the PTA and staff all worked together to coordinate the event. Kudos also goes to Melissa Oldakowski from Coldwell Banker Team Real Estate who recruited donations from area businesses and people. 

“Local business owners should feel proud that they make consistent efforts to help their community. I think it comes back two-fold when you give,” said Oldakowski. As for the event itself, she acknowledged, “Super thankful to all the teachers. I am really excited to see where this community is heading,” she continued.

Success isn’t always easy to measure. But to summarize, Jordan attempted by saying “We had 350 pumpkins and they were all gone. If you take, say 400 kids each with two adults, I think we probably had 800 or 900 walk through today.” As a free event the only thing donation-based was the bake sale table and the dunk tank. 

“That money will off-set any cost that we had for the event. I expect that we will make some extra money so we will decide later where we will put that to work; probably something for the students through the school,” concluded Jordan.

Babbs Bridge reopens with a clean look - By Stephen Signor

Last Friday at 10 a.m. the covered bridge that crosses the Presumpscot River and connects Gorham with Windham opened after much needed renovations. The original plan was to just replace openings left in the sides of the bridge from vehicle accidents and replacing the roof from which vandals would make access possible for diving off the span. 

Half way through the project it was decided to install sheathing first behind the siding boards for extra strength and added damage protection, then install all new boards over that on both sides for aesthetics. The added use of cedar resulted in a good looking structure that should last a long time.

“With the changes the original price tag of $89,000 increased to $108,000, but well worth it,” a MDOT worker shared. “It’s up to the users of the bridge now how long the overall condition lasts.”

At 10:20 a.m. the first car drove across from the Gorham side. “It’s nice to see this done. They did a great job,” said the happy motorist who wished to remain anonymous. He also expressed concern regarding the history of vandals. “Last summer there was a surveillance camera placed high up on a tree by the Gorham Police Department. This was an effective deterrent. I don’t know why they took it down, but the moment they did the vandalism continued.” 

 “The covered bridge will remain unpainted so it can age naturally and gain that weathered look,” explained a representative from Doten Construction, Inc. of Freeport who worked on the project.

Babb’s Bridge is one of the few covered bridges left in New England.