As turmoil coursed through Bayfield town government this summer, Chief of Police Michael Hoguet’s concerns grew to the point that he applied for a position in Ouray just 18 months after he moved to Bayfield to run the police department. Now, he says his fears have been ameliorated and he intends to stay put.
Hoguet was a finalist for the chief job in Ouray, according to the Ouray County Plaindealer, but said Monday that he did not get it.
“When I did apply, I was in a different head space, and I had some different concerns about the trajectory of the town,” Hoguet said.
But since he applied in late summer, the chief said “things have changed.”
Bayfield’s upper leadership team began to crumble in August when town Trustee Matthew Nyberg made a sudden motion to terminate the contract of the now-former town manager, Katie Sickles. The resignations of the town’s community development director, a planning commissioner, and Sickles herself followed.
The drama raised doubts for Hoguet, who was hired by Sickles in April 2023.
“Whenever you see someone treated as such, and you're a protector of people, that hurts,” he said. “She was a mentor of mine for a year and a half. I learned a vast amount from her. I credit her with a lot of the things I know. So when you see things that happen like this, you go, OK, is this the right place for me?”
Wanting to keep his options open, Hoguet applied to the job in Ouray. It was an unexpected move for a newly minted chief, who would have likely had to uproot his life again to take over a department smaller than Bayfield’s.
The previous Ouray police chief, Jeff Wood, was fired in June. Wood was placed on administrative leave in January pending the outcome of a criminal case involving his stepson and two other boys who were accused of raping a 17-year-old during a late-night party at Wood’s home.
In the intervening months since Hoguet applied, he says Bayfield leaders have set themselves on a better path.
“The board's pulling together as one now, and it seems like they're coming together, and they're putting their hearts into it,” he said, emphasizing a love for the community.
Hoguet intends to stay with the department until his retirement, which is likely seven or eight years away.
“I am completely dedicated to the town,” he said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com