Charges deferred against former police chief

Plains Mayor Dan Bates appointed a new police commissioner at their regular Oct. 6 meeting, but the council didn’t confirm his appointment.

According to town clerk Linda Arnold, two local residents applied for the position: Sherry McCartney and Debbie Churchill, both of Plains. At the town council meeting, Churchill was the only one of the two who was there because McCartney had a previous engagement, Arnold said.

After interviewing Churchill, Bates appointed McCartney, who he had interviewed earlier. However, the town council did not confirm his appointment because they didn’t see an interview with McCartney.

Arnold said that, under city’s division of powers, the city council doesn’t interview candidates.

“It will likely be brought up again at the next town council meeting and it could get interesting,” Arnold said. “The council is not the entity that interviews candidates, they just confirm. The interviewing is the mayor’s job.”