Ronan City Council eliminates, adds police chief candidates
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RONAN — Last week Ronan City Council voted to accept a late job application for police chief and bring the city’s hiring pool for the position up to two candidates.
The decision came after much discussion about what constituted a completed application, and what exactly the want ad for the job required.
The council originally narrowed the number of applicants down from a pool of seven applicants to two people who had submitted applications by the July 10 deadline. But one of the candidates took themselves out of the running after learning the $19 per hour position was nowhere near the $80,000 per year salary he had hoped for.
The council was faced with a choice: accept applications that came in after the deadline and did not meet criteria or limit itself to a single applicant who still has to go through background checks, testing, physical examinations, and other facets of the hiring process.
City Clerk Kaylene Melton said she turned some late applicants away because it was after the July 10 deadline, but City Attorney Kathleen O’Rourke Mullins said the wordage of the want ad means it is acceptable for late applicants to be considered.
“I don’t have the exact wording down but it was something like ‘submit your applications, or applications accepted by July 10 or until the position is filled,’” City Attorney Kathleen O’Rourke Mullins said. “‘Until the position is filled’ leaves it wide open.’”
Community member Tracy Morigeau Frank said she was concerned that considering late applicants was unfair.
“Had these ones been turned in on the 10th, they wouldn’t be complete, so shouldn’t they be washed out with all the incomplete ones?” Morigeau Frank said.
Morigeau Frank also said she was worried that the council members considered pushing one applicant with an incomplete application to the next round.
“When you start the interviewing process, you set out these standards and directions,” Morigeau Frank said. “If you can’t follow the directions you have to apply for the job, then why would you expect them to follow directions when you hire them?”
Some city councilmembers said they could understand why the application was incomplete. The application has been reopened and closed a couple of times in the past few months. At one point an impressive candidate sent photocopies of extensive credentials to councilmembers’ personal addresses, but those copies and credentials weren’t submitted in the latest hiring round. Councilmembers said they could see why a person might not re-submit the documentation.
“Obviously there was lots of room for confusion to happen,” Councilmember Chris Adler said.
Ultimately, the council eliminated the incomplete application and accepted one submitted after the deadline.
It was unclear what the next step in the hiring process is. Mayor Kim Aipperspach said he would check with state officials to see what the council’s next move should be.
