Monterey Mayor Alex Garcia said he feels good about the Civil Service Board’s decision to hire John Mackie as the town’s new police chief.
Garcia said he held an hour-and-a-half-long meeting with Mackie Wednesday morning so they both could be on the same page on how they can better Monterey. Garcia said he feels like the police department can now head in a new direction.
“I feel like we can move forward,” Garcia said. “I feel like he’s got you know a job ahead of him. I know he’s gotta get acclimated, he’s gotta get in there and get to work and that’s one of the things that we talked about this morning. He is gonna get in there and get to work and do the best that he can.”
Garcia said he thinks the police department is not that far off the tracks. Garcia said he hopes for a good police department under Mackie’s leadership.
“We got a good bunch of guys,” Garcia said. “I think now with good leadership we should have a very very good police department for our town.”
Mackie was born and raised in Monterey. Garcia said Mackie being from Monterey has its pros and cons.
“It’s a pro that he knows the area,” Garcia said. “He knows the area well and grew up there. You know the con would be that he knows a lot of people in town. That could be a bad thing or a good thing you know but I do think he will do well though.”
Garcia said now that a police chief is hired he and Mackie’s focus will shift to filling the remaining open positions at the police department.
