24 December, 2015
To Whom it May Concern
I am writing this letter in hopes that the Hopkinton Board of Selectmen will review their recent decision to appoint Deputy Chief Stephen Slaman as only Interim Chief rather than making his position be permanent. Deputy Chief Slaman has been a great call firefighter, great full time firefighter, great Lieutenant and great Deputy Chief for the Hopkinton Fire Department. He is well educated. He recently achieved a master’s degree in Public Administration which I can only assume was to better himself to become the Fire Chief in Hopkinton. Hopkinton today is not the Hopkinton of past. The long timers are sadly becoming memories in the town ranks. Filling the loss of a great man and Chief like Ken Clark can be minimalized by the appointment of Deputy Chief Slaman. He is passionate, loyal, driven and enthusiastic. Having worked with both Chief Clark and Deputy Chief Slaman, I can tell you that when it comes to an emergency situation, these are the 2 you want with you. Deputy is level headed, insightful and empowering. He is pedigreed. His grandfathers were Chiefs in Wellesley and Dover, his father was an extremely well regarded call firefighter in Hopkinton for probably 50 years. He has been with the department for probably 40 years in some capacity. He has been raised in the same fire station where he should now be Chief. He is a resident of Hopkinton, and has given much of his life to the town, most specifically, the fire department. When Chief Clark was formally promoted to Chief, I was at the ceremony and spoke not as a firefighter but as a citizen. My comment was to the Selectmen stating how pleasantly surprised I was to see that they made the right choice in promoting Ken Clark to Chief. How anyone could vote against the permanent appointment of Deputy Slaman is beyond me. He was in a pool of 18 applicants. He was one of the last 2 remaining. Regardless of why Chief Doherty, whom I have also worked for, pulled out of consideration, he has proven himself to everyone in the process that he is the man to be put in charge. Having spoken to many, many people in regards to this issue, I have not found one person who has not been amazed how ridiculous and embarrassing the Selectmen’s decision is. I am deeply disappointed in the Selectmen that voted for the interim title for Deputy Chief Slaman and not permenant. With all that is wrong with the town, this was a no brainer, and the no-voters on the board have dropped the ball. As a citizen of Hopkinton, I will remember this when it comes to election time and hope that all others will do the same. We need more common sense on the board and less posturing.
Thank you,
Brendan Tedstone
45A Pleasant St
Hopkinton, MA
Ex Call-Firefighter
Town of Hopkinton
Brendantedstone88@yahoo.com
