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Four candidates for Holcomb police chief
Published 7/9/2009 in Local News : Police
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
HOLCOMB — The city of Holcomb still is looking for a police chief, but the search is going well, according to Holcomb City Administrator Robin Peña.
Before Wednesday's City Council meeting, Peña said the city has interviewed three applicants, so far, with plans to interview a fourth, Holcomb Police Cpl. Tony Forsen, who has been serving as the officer in charge of the police department as the council conducts its search.
The search is to fill the vacancy left by former Chief Gordon Smith, whose contract was not renewed in May.
Mayor Jamie Jarnagin declined to renew Smith's appointment May 13 after the council received a 152-signature petition calling for the removal of Smith and after an hour-and-a-half closed session. The decision terminated Smith's employment immediately. Smith signed a release of all claims against the city in return for his severance package.
Applicants for the position include Forsen, 33, who's been with the department for nine years; Steve Lewis, of Hugoton; Clinton Thompson, Oklahoma; and Kenneth Winter, Conway Springs. Additional biographical information on the candidates was not available this morning,
Peña said the city is waiting on background checks on the applicants to be completed through the Garden City Police Department, and interviewing the fourth applicant before making a possible decision.
Peña and Councilmen Lary Cole and Rob McCallister interviewed three of the applicants last week. All interviews were done in person, Peña said.
"They all three went well. Two of them were extremely positive," Peña said. "So we're really hoping this is a good sign."
The timeline for the search depends on how the background checks turn out, Peña said.
There's a possibility the city could re-interview some of the applicants, Peña said, if the background checks come back all right. That will be left up to the council, though, Peña said.
"We just have to wait on the backgrounds at this point...," she said. "You don't know where you stand until that's done."
Forsen said during Wednesday's council meeting the department's new part-time officer, Earl Anthony Avalon, had started.
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