The top officials in our community are called “leaders” for a reason. They aren’t just figureheads, but have actual authority to make decisions that affect our daily lives; sometimes that power is conferred in legal statutes. and sometimes it comes from the moral authority conferred upon them by us — the general public that they serve.

Addison County saw a fair number of changes in its local leadership in 2023. Perhaps the most prominent changes were at the top of the biggest law enforcement agencies in the county.

One of the counties longest-serving law enforcement leaders was Tom Hanley, who came to Middlebury to be police chief in 1991. After serving 32 transformational years leading the local PD, in July Hanley announced he would retire. Two months later, the selectboard unanimously voted to hire Middlebury Police Sgt. Jason Covey to become the new chief.

The promotion of Interim Vergennes Police Chief Jason Ouellette to the permanent head of the city police department became official on March 14, when the Vergennes City Council formally approved a decision made in mid-January by City Manager Ron Redmond and a council-appointed hiring committee. Ouellette, 39, a highly decorated 15-year veteran of the city force, replaces Chief George Merkel, who retired the previous fall after 13 years of service.

Tom Mozzer was named the new commander of the Vermont State Police’s New Haven barracks at the end of June. Now in his 23rd year with the VSP, Lt. Mozzer started at the Rutland barracks, became a detective sergeant with the Narcotics Investigation Unit, and was promoted to lieutenant in 2017.

THE FRONT PAGE of the Addison Independent on Sept. 14, 2023

On Feb. 1, Rose Elmore pinned the Addison County Sheriff’s badge on her husband, Michael Elmore, in a ceremony at the Mahady Courthouse in Middlebury. Michael Elmore took the oath of office to become the county’s top elected law enforcement officer that day, as did State’s Attorney Eva Vekos, though she had started her duties the previous December when the acting state’s attorney left for another job.

Law enforcement wasn’t the only place we saw new leadership. The citizens of Vergennes on Town Meeting Day elected as its new mayor Chris Bearor, a Vergennes-Panton Water District Board cochair and city lister. More than a year after long-serving Middlebury Town Clerk Ann Webster announced she would retire, the town appointed Karin Mott would take the job.

On the education front, the Addison Central School District saw some leadership turnover. Superintendent Peter Borrows announced he was looking for a new job, and at the end of June he left to take the helm at the Milton, Mass., school district. The school board selected two finalists to replace him, but ultimately hired an interim superintendent — Tim Williams — to serve for a year while the candidate search continued. Williams, who had been serving as interim head of the Patricia Hannaford Career Center, was relieved of that responsibility when Nicole MacTaggart was hired to fill that role beginning July 1.

Middlebury Union High School Principal Justin Campbell did not give nearly so much warning before he left that job. He announced his resignation on a Monday afternoon in January and made it effective at the end of the day. Assistant Superintendent Caitlin Steele took over as an interim and was later hired as the permanent MUHS principal.

In September, there was another surprise departure of a top local leader when Porter Medical Center’s Tom Thompson stepped away from his role as president and chief operating officer of the county’s top health care provider in order to focus his time and energy on caring for his ailing wife. The UVM Health Network installed Bob Ortmyer as an interim replacement.