Published: January 07, 2009 10:09 am      

Blaisdell appointed city manager

Chelsea L. McGowan

cmcgowan@weatherforddemocrat.com

In a special session of the Weatherford city council Tuesday, Interim City Manager Jerry Blaisdell was appointed to permanently helm the manager’s seat left vacant by Jennifer Fadden in September.

In addition to serving as city manager, Blaisdell will also continue to serve as the Director of Public Safety.

“We have a great staff and great employees at the City of Weatherford,” Blaisdell said after the appointment was approved. “I’m just proud to be a part of it.”

Blaisdell served as the chief of the Weatherford Police Department for 19 years and is still considered “acting” chief.

The process of appointing his replacement is ongoing, and Blaisdell said Tuesday now that the holidays are over, he expects a decision to be made fairly quickly.

“We’ve let the holidays go by and it’s time to make a decision there,” he said. “Regardless of what happens here today [regarding the city manager appointment], we’ll keep moving forward with the process of appointing a police chief.”

According to a release from the city, Blaisdell’s salary in his new position will be around $135,000, which represents a more than $18,000-a-year raise from the salary range of a police chief.

No salary is associated with the position of Director of Public Safety.