By DAVID SKOLNICK
skolnick@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
The mayor is in discussions with a Washington, D.C., firm to assist him in hiring a new police chief.
Mayor Jay Williams declined to disclose the name of the company but said the firm could be hired in the next two to three weeks. The two parties also need to talk about the company’s fee, the mayor said.
The firm, which specializes in “searches for police executives,” could potentially screen and evaluate candidates as well as prepare the job announcement, Williams said.
The city is looking for a new police chief with the retirement of Chief Jimmy Hughes.
Hughes retired March 18, and has agreed to run the department until Aug. 31 while the city looks for a successor, Williams said.
The goal is to have a new chief by Aug. 31, he said.
Williams said he plans to seek input from representatives of the police department’s patrolmen and ranking officers unions as well as city council through its safety committee and members of his administration.
When asked if there will be any input from citizens, Williams said, “The issue of some sort of public ‘vetting’ of finalists is under consideration. If it does transpire, the manner in which it might occur is yet to be determined.”
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.
Comments
Can anyone tell my why we have to hire a firm to hire a police chief? What happened to doing it yourself. Just read the applications and conduct some interviews! What a waste of money!
Agreed. Hiring consultants to conduct searches in the public sector seems to be the "in" thing to do. This is undoubtedly one of the biggest scams going in the public sector. It is a TOTAL waste of taxpayer money. There is absolutely no sound reason for investing this kind of money to do a job which the mayor and his administration could and should do on their own.
Maybe I should start a firm to assist the public sector in hiring. I can easily set up an email address and subscribe to a company that does background checks. I'll post the job vacancy on a few national job boards, run a few background checks and then forward the city my "recommended" candidates. All for one easy payment of $50,000 per job.
Is the Mayor saying that there is no one on the force that is capable of doing the job or that wants the job? Please--------almost anyone would be an improvement.
Ridiculous!
C'mon...need to Hire a Firm for ONE solitary police chief vacancy? I can possibly see a firm needed for an up and coming business that is mass hiring...but for ONE candidate-- a Hiring Firm is absurd!
Jay Williams needs to re-consider where valuable dollars can be spent and frankly, NOT on a DC Hiring Firm.
Its not like he his hiring a chief for LA or NYPD.
Maybe this is Mayor Jay's way of telling us that he is incompetent to do the job he was elected to do. Ask around for a bit of help from people in this area. I'm sure there are enough individuals with expertiece in the police field to higher a great chief. Quit wasting money!