Janesville police chief to double as chief and city manager

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) - Janesville Police Chief David Moore will work a dual position as head of the police department and as interim city manager.

Current Janesville City Manager Mark Freitag is leaving for a new job in Colorado and Chief Moore will assume most of Freitag’s responsibilities without leaving his post as chief on October 24.

The city council voted unanimously in favor of the decision at Monday night’s meeting. Chief Moore will take on the role temporarily while the council searches for Freitag’s permanent replacement for up to six months.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Chief Moore said.

Moore will be in charge of the city’s finances and 2023 budget. He said most of the decisions have been made in regards to police financing, so he believes it will not be a conflict of interest.

“I don’t see this as a conflict of interest,” Chief Moore said. “Everything is openly worked through, much of it is not done behind closed doors. Everything goes through the city council.”

Council President Paul Benson said the dual position is not an opportunity for the chief to increase funding for the police department.

“No because he still answers to the city council just like before,” Benson said.

Benson believes Chief Moore’s past proves that he is the right candidate to take the temporary job.

“Chief Moore’s long track record of being a high character, strong person and leader it allayed any concerns we had,” Benson said. “He’s committed his entire working life to the City of Janesville. He could’ve retired many years ago at this point, but has chosen to continue that leadership role because I know he loves and cares about the City of Janesville.”

Benson said both the deputy city manager deputy Ryan McCue and Janesville Police Department officials will assume more responsibilities to maintain operation when Chief Moore is busy with other tasks.

“There will be no drop-off in the safety of this community,” Chief Moore maintains. “I can defer some duties to the deputy chiefs and likewise the deputy city manager and his staff think they can take on additional city duties.”

Benson and Chief Moore said a salary increase has not been discussed yet, but there will be publicly held meetings to decide a final number before October 24.

When asked if Chief Moore would look to make the position permanent, he said, “No.”

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