The Wellesley Select Board on Wednesday voted unanimously to appoint veterans of its police and fire departments as the new chiefs of those public safety outfits.
Current Deputy Police Chief Scott Whittemore, who grew up in town and still lives here, has been named to succeed retiring chief Jack Pilecki once he exits at the end of June.
Steve Mortarelli, current deputy fire chief and a member of the department since 2007, was appointed as the new chief by the Board. David Soar has been serving as the active chief since former Chief Rick DeLorie retired at the start of 2023. Following DeLorie’s retirement the town conducted a search for a new chief and ultimately hired Soar as interim chief for a year in a leadership and mentorship role.
Following internal postings for both jobs, the Whittemore and Mortarelli stepped forward to apply for the jobs. Earlier interviews with the candidates took place, then the Select Board conducted brief public interviews during its meeting on Wednesday, June 12 (see Wellesley Media recording). See below for resumes and other background on the two newly appointed department leaders.
New police chief
Whittemore got to know the Wellesley Police Department as a public school student who took photos for the Wellesley Townsman and other area news outlets, and was on a path to a photojournalism career in college until he took a part-time job as an EMT and wound up getting hooked on police work in Rochester, N.Y. Whittemore joined the Wellesley Police Department as an officer in 2006, and rose through the ranks, becoming deputy chief in 2017.
Whittemore’s responsibilities have included day-to-day command of the department’s operations, and he’s been recognized for creativity in establishing the department’s drone program, which has proven vital for public safety. Whittemore’s technical acumen has been instrumental as well in areas such as securing state and federal grants for equipment and overseeing the Emergency Communications Center renovation and public safety antenna project.
During the public interview portion of the meeting, Whittemore discussed the payoff from investing in the department’s people. That investment “reaps untold benefits downstream in terms of safety and the community,” he said.
Retiring Chief Pilecki has strongly endorsed Whittemore as his successor, saying during the Board meeting: “I don’t think there is anybody more ready for this position.”
New fire chief
Mortarelli lives in Natick but has roots in Wellesley going back to his father, who was six years old when he moved from Italy to Wellesley. His dad became a member of the Wellesley Fire Department, and Mortarelli said “As far as I remember, I always wanted to be a firefighter.”
Mortarelli’s responsibilities as deputy have included managing and leading a minimum of twelve firefighters per shift and commanding emergency operations on a covering basis. He’s also been the Fire Department liaison for the Boston Marathon, coordinating EMS response and allocating resources throughout the race for the town.
We’ve spoken to Mortarelli in the past about the Fire Department’s investments in technology, and technology investments from basic (email, desktop) to advanced (new alerting system) will be a focus going forward under his leadership.
One big challenge and opportunity for Mortarelli will be overseeing a department with a lot of new hires—23 over the past few years. He described this as an “absolute unprecedented number” that has a domino effect on the number of new higher-ups as well at a time when training requires creativity given instructor shortages at the Mass Fire Academy.
Both appointments are contingent upon successful contract negotiations.
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