Police sergeant withdraws name from consideration for chief’s position in Calais

CALAIS — An announcement Thursday night by Mayor Vinton Cassidy surprised more than 30 people who attended the Calais City Council meeting when he said that Calais police Sgt. Ralph Bridges moments before had removed his name from consideration for the position of police chief.

Bridges was City Manager Nancy Orr’s second nomination for the position. Bridges did not attend the meeting, and no explanation was given for his withdrawal.

Orr announced Bridges’ nomination Monday and since then several councilors had said they would not support the appointment because of pressure from constituents who favored the appointment of Sgt. Michael Milburn, who is acting chief.

The position of police chief has been vacant since the death in September of J.D. Johnson. In November, a search committee evaluated four applicants and recommended the appointment of Calais native Philip Townsend, who once served in the Calais Police Department and who now is a senior patrol sergeant in law enforcement in Cedar Park, Texas. The council rejected Orr’s appointment of Townsend and told her they believed the appointment should be made from within the ranks of the Calais Police Department.

After a delay of several weeks, Orr announced the appointment of the panel’s second choice, Ralph Bridges, an 18-year veteran of the Calais Police Department. In an unusual move Thursday afternoon, the council held an executive session three hours before its regular meeting was to begin and met with Bridges. That session preceded Cassidy’s announcement that Bridges had withdrawn his name from consideration.

During the regular meeting Thursday, Orr gave no indication of what her future action would be, but the last candidate from within the ranks of the Calais Police Department is Milburn.