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Ten apply to be Gold Hill chief By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune Ten applicants from around the country have responded to the challenge of building Gold Hill's police department from scratch - despite no guarantee of funding beyond the first year. Monday was the deadline for applying for Gold Hill's police chief position. Of about 40 who requested applications, 10 have returned them, said City Recorder Tony Paxton. Paxton said the ratio of inquiries to returned applications demonstrated the challenge posed by the job description. The job calls for establishing policies and procedures, overseeing reservists and seeking grant funding. Four applications came from Oregon, the others from Nevada, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Alaska and Arizona. The city decided in October to open a police department despite failure of a $270,000 operating levy at the polls in September. Not enough people voted to meet the requirement of a 50 percent turnout for money measures in nongeneral elections. With 70 percent of those who voted in favor of the levy, council president Christine Alford said the fact that "50 votes in either direction would have passed the measure" demonstrated an unfunded mandate from the people. The former police department was closed in September 2000 over liability issues and personnel problems. The Jackson County Sheriff's Department currently provides emergency-response coverage. The council plans to first hire a chief to get the department up and running as a "see-before-you-buy-type-thing," explained Paxton, allowing voters to see the pros and cons of having their own police department before the city tries again in May to pass an operating levy. If passed, the levy would supplement the public safety budget with $54,000 annually for five years. The council will formally receive the applications Jan. 7 and schedule a workshop to determine how to get the nonlocal finalists to Gold Hill for interviews once background checks are conducted. "When Talent did a city administrator search, they sent videotapes and questions for the applicants to send back a recording of themselves answering the questions. That's definitely an option they (council members) will have," Paxton said. "We obviously can't afford to fly several people to Oregon." Paxton added that a decision on a new chief could be made as early as February. The Jan. 7 meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall. 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.