MONMOUTH -- If Police Chief Robert Annese and his officers needed a vote of confidence following the voters' decision last month to reject the department's proposed operating budget, selectmen at Thursday's public hearing offered more than just a pat on the back.

"We feel strongly our department is doing a good job. We feel strongly Chief Annese is the right person for the job," Selectman Timothy McDonald said. "We believe the department is headed in the right direction, which may not have been the case before."

The hearing was scheduled to discuss the police budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year that began Wednesday.

Voters at the June 9 referendum-style town meeting passed all but one of the 25 warrant articles by secret ballot. The lone rejected article, which failed by just two votes, was seeking $268,340 for the police department and $9,800 for animal control, including $4,200 in revenues from licenses and fines.

The rejected police budget, which was down $12,000 from this year, drew no complaints during two public hearings held prior to the vote.

A public hearing on the new proposed warrant article is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 14 at the Town Office.

A warrant article with a budget identical to the one rejected in June will go back to residents at referendum 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 28 at Cumston Hall.

Much of Thursday's public hearing was spent answering questions posed by some of a dozen people who attended.

Resident Eric Ritter, for example, asked about the town's crime statistics and the department's emphasis on traffic control versus community policing.

"It seems like every day I see someone pulled over," Ritter said. "If that's your priority, that's wrong. The real problem is juvenile (crime). That's where the department should be focused."

Annese said his department is focused on limiting and investigating juvenile and adult crimes, and that his department's cases have come to successful prosecutions in court.

Annese said residents' most persistent complaints concern traffic. "Everyone wants their streets to be safe," he said.

Annese acknowledged his department has done a poor job giving the public information on his department's activities.

Beginning in June, the department's monthly report, which Annese prepares for selectmen, will be on the department's Web site, reached via link at www.monmouthme.govoffice2.com.

"I'm accountable. My department is accountable," Annese said. "Everything we do is out in the open."

Selectwoman Sharon Wing praised Annese for turning the department around since taking over in 2006. A Maine Chiefs of Police report conducted prior to Annese's hiring found poor morale, poorly investigated cases and unanswered complaints from residents.

Annese has made the improvements without breaking the budget, said Wing, who theorized that residents' decision to reject the new budget had more to do with gossip and misperceptions.

"I don't think it was about the budget," she said. "I think there were some people that thought, 'We're going to stick it to the them this year.' I don't think it had anything to do with money, which is sad."

Craig Crosby--623-3811, ext. 433

ccrosby@centralmaine.com