Document text
Gold Hill police chief should be a jack-of-all-trades By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune GOLD HILL - The City Council decided its new police chief will have to be a serious multitasker looking for a good challenge. "Basically, we need someone to handle planning, directing, coordinating and staffing - pretty much everything," said City Recorder Tony Paxton. "There's a lot to do as a working chief." The city decided it would reopen its police department following a Sept. 18 election in which 67 percent of voters favored a $270,000 tax levy to fund it. While the levy failed because not enough people voted in the election, council president Christine Alford called the results an "unfunded mandate." "We're taking a calculated risk, but the council is more persuaded to continue on even if it means cutting something else from the budget," Alford said. The city will open its department with $75,000 from its public safety budget with the hope that voters in May will approve the money to keep it open. The levy would provide $54,000 to fund a chief and patrol officer each year for the next five years. For now, Paxton said, the city would proceed in hiring a chief to set up the department. The city has gone with emergency-only police protection since July, when it terminated a contract with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Council members met earlier this month to decide on criteria for the new chief. "Most of the (chief candidates) they've talked to before were excited about starting a department from scratch, looking at it as a great challenge," Paxton said. Job requirements for the chief include: a minimum of eight years' experience in upper-level management; possession of an advanced training certificate from the Oregon Department of Public Safety and Standards Training; skills in evidence gathering, conducting and evaluating personnel training, and assignment and supervision of reserve personnel. Preference will be given to applicants with an associate's degree in police science or a related field. Paxton said he would advertise with local newspapers, the League of Oregon Cities and the Law Enforcement Data System. He said the city's goal was to have a chief in place by May to show voters what they would be electing to keep. For more information, call City Hall at 855-1525. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.