The Finance Committee on June 2 approved an ordinance amendment to create a deputy chief position in the Marlborough Police Department, a non‑union post the mayor and police chief said is intended to provide a formal second‑in‑command and strengthen succession planning.

In a letter read at the meeting, Mayor J. Christian Dumas said the proposed deputy‑chief role would “strengthen the department’s organizational leadership structure by introducing a formal second in command and promoting a succession plan within the department.” The mayor’s submission included a proposed job description and salary table and noted the FY2026 budget includes funding for the position.

Police Chief David Georgi told the committee the department has discussed a second-in-command for several years and that the role is needed because some duties — including certain internal-investigation and discovery responsibilities — cannot be shared with officers in the bargaining unit. “For a department our size, in a city our size, it’s an in command and another point of leadership that we really need,” Georgi said.

The ordinance amends City Code Chapter 125 (personnel) — specifically section 5 (preparation of classification descriptions) and section 6 (salary schedule) — to add the deputy chief classification as a non‑union position. The proposed starting salary in the ordinance is $165,000 (step 1); the budgeted line item had $175,000. Chief Georgi and councilors discussed step placements and that promoted captains would begin at lower steps than the top-step amounts shown in supplemental materials.

Councilors asked about whether creating the deputy‑chief role would eliminate captain positions; Georgi said the department will keep both captain posts and promote from within. Councilors also reviewed how the department set the salary by comparing internal rank separations and surveying similar departments.

Councilor Roby moved approval; the committee voted 5–0 to approve the ordinance amendment (order number 25-109450). The vote advances the change to the full council for final adoption and implements the position funded in the approved police budget.

The committee record notes that the mayor, the chief, the legal department and human resources helped prepare the ordinance and job description. The meeting did not record any changes to the proposed job description or salary table; subsequent step placement or starting-step adjustments may be addressed when the chief seeks to fill the position.