The application deadline for Monterey’s police chief opening now closed and the Civil Service Board will begin reviewing applications.
Civil Service Board Chairman Jon Phillips said the town received five applications and that the applicants appear to be highly qualified. Phillips said the Civil Service Board handles the hiring to keep politics out of the process.
“We’re non-biased,” Phillips said. “We are just trying to get the best candidate possible for the city. So that’s sort of how that works and what we’ll do is we will interview and we will come to a consensus on who we want to hire and then we will hire them.”
Phillips said the board will begin interviews next Wednesday and hopes to hire a new police chief by the end of the month. Phillips said he will look at previous experience and previous leadership roles when interviewing candidates.
“I’d like to know a lot of their history and sort of what they have done in the past,” Phillips said. “Any past job experience, any training they’ve got, how well they work with the local government. I mean there is just a whole onslaught of you know questions I’ll be asking.”
Phillips said all three board members will interview each candidate individually. Phillips said if the board met to interview candidates then the public would have the right to sit in on interviews.
“Anytime that a board meets as a board it has to be from my understanding a public meeting,” Phillips said. “So we will not gather as a board to do interviews because we don’t want to interview these people publicly for their security, their confidentiality, maybe they are working for another municipality and don’t want to put it out there that they are looking employment elsewhere.”
Phillips said hiring a new police chief will hopefully get the town’s police department back on track.
