Our View: Go slow on new chief - Gate House

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January 07. 2015 12:01AM Our View: Go slow on new chief Police Chief Terry Holderness will by all accounts leave the Ashland Police Department in better shape than he found it, and has earned the respect of city residents and the department's officers in his eight years at the helm. It's understandable that Holderness wants to help the city select his successor. He should be encouraged to make a recommendation, but city officials should be wary of allowing the search process to become too insular. Holderness came to Ashland in 2007 from Fontana, Calif., where he served 25 years, rising to the rank of captain. He was hired to take over a department that had a nearly 50 percent turnover rate and where officers had issued a vote of no confidence in then chief Mike Bianca. Holderness was brought on board in part to implement community policing policies recommended by an independent analysis of the department. He has done so during his tenure, and the department's turnover rate has dropped to an insignificant levels. Holderness told the City Council in a study session Monday that he has a successor in mind from within the department — although he did not name the person — and asked to be allowed to make a recommendation. That's not unreasonable, but the city's search committee should be wary of giving too much weight to the chief's preference at the expense of a thorough, national search with the city's best interest in mind. Fresh leadership from outside can be healthy even for the best-run organizations.  http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20150107/OPINION/150109900 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->