EVERETT — Former Everett Chief of Police Dan Templeman will earn $234,252 as a city senior executive director in the Everett mayor’s office, according to an offer letter obtained by The Daily Herald.
The hiring came two months after the resignation of former Deputy Mayor Nick Harper. Mayor Cassie Franklin admitted to having a relationship with Harper last year, sparking an outside investigation that cost the city $55,000.
It appears Templeman’s position as executive director will carry many of the same job duties.
In fact, when Harper was hired as deputy mayor in 2017, his offer letter from Mayor Franklin read:
“For purposes of the City’s existing salary structure and job classification system, you would be brought in as an Executive Director,” Franklin said in the letter. “I anticipate that your actual title would be something other than Executive Director, but this needs to be worked out internally.”
The city does not plan to hire another deputy mayor, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said via email.
Templeman officially retired from the Everett Police Department in October.
Since December, he has served as the city’s senior executive director alongside Lori Cummings, who holds the same title. The senior executive directors report directly to Franklin. In the absence of the mayor, the director can serve in her place, according to the job listing posted by the city.
Other responsibilities of the senior executive director are to provide “high-level leadership and direction in the establishment … including the formulation of plans, policies, and programs needed to attain city goals and objectives,” the listing read.
For weeks after the hiring was announced, Templeman’s exact salary and benefits remained unclear. He’ll collect a police pension under a separate state fund.
Mayor Franklin disclosed the relationship with Harper to the human resources department in early 2023. An internal investigation into the relationship approved by the City Council found no violation of city policy took place as a result of or during Franklin and Harper’s relationship.
Franklin filed for divorce from her husband in November 2022. Harper was married at the time, according to previous Herald reporting.
In 2013, Harper resigned from his seat in the state senate, following allegations of an affair.
Ashley Nash: 425-339-3037; ashley.nash@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @ash_nash00.
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