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Select Board votes to appoint Mike Renton as West Stockbridge police chief
Summary
At its July 6 meeting the West Stockbridge Select Board approved appointing acting chief Mike Renton as police chief after members and department colleagues endorsed his leadership; public commenters also praised storm response and urged compensation review for volunteer firefighters.
The West Stockbridge Select Board voted on July 6 to appoint acting chief Mike Renton as the town's police chief after members of the police department and select-board members endorsed his leadership during a recent transitional period.
Chair (S1) told the board that, because of open-meeting rules, members had not been able to discuss the appointment outside the meeting but said "everyone has suggested that the leadership that he showed then would be welcome to carry on into the future," and moved to appoint Renton. A board member seconded the motion and the board voted in favor.
Why it matters: the board framed the appointment as continuity of leadership after a difficult transition for the department. The motion followed public comments praising local emergency response during recent outages and storms.
During public comment Anne Wright (S2), who identified herself as a West Stockbridge resident from Freibler Lane, thanked the highway, police and fire departments "for all of their hard work during these last few days with the two nights with no power" and asked the board to examine how volunteer firefighters are compensated, noting that "the police department and the highway department get paid weekly. The fire department only gets paid biannually," and respectfully requested the board "look into that so that these volunteers can get some sort of compensation for their hard work."
An agency official (S7) described the emergency-call load handled by regional dispatch during the outage and warned residents about generator safety: "If you hear a generator running, just always assume those lines are powered." Board members echoed appreciation for first responders.
What happened procedurally: the chair made the appointment motion, a member seconded, and the board recorded verbal assent in response to a roll-call-style prompt. The transcript does not list a formal start date for Renton's new title.
Next steps: The board did not record a specific effective date in the meeting transcript. The board indicated it will follow regular hiring and onboarding steps for the department.
