The Haines Borough Public Safety Commission is recommending the assembly authorize the hire of a headhunting firm to find the municipality’s next police chief, largely because of the uncertain future of the administration.
With interim police chief Robert Griffiths leaving the job Monday and outgoing manager David Sosa’s last day slated for Dec. 4, commission members seemed to lack confidence there would be anyone left to even make hires.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said commission member Kay Clements. “I don’t think there’s enough structure left to do it.”
Commission chair Jim Stanford agreed, calling the ensuing weeks “a period of chaos.”
“We’ve got about a week before (Sosa) leaves to bring an interim manager up to speed on everything that is going on with the police chief hire. He or she has to figure out who we are going to hire as an interim (chief), and at the same time, they are going to be figuring out who might be a permanent or another interim manager,” Stanford said.
The commission voted 4-1 to support the “cost-effective use of a consulting firm” in the search for an interim chief and permanent chief. Member Judy Erekson was opposed.
Erekson said she was having a hard time getting on board with the headhunting firm idea, as borough officials keep saying there is no money available, including for the Chilkat Valley Preschool and Haines Senior Center. “But now we can find $30,000 to $40,000 to hire someone else?”
She also expressed frustration with the string of high-paid borough employees who have failed to stay on the job. “You pay them to move, and you pay their vacation and then they just take off,” Erekson said.
Several commissioners asked Sosa what his plan is for a replacement manager, but Sosa would only say, “There will be somebody occupying the position.” He didn’t respond to an email requesting details.
“All of the functions of government will continue. There will be someone who steps in and occupies the role. There may be some challenges, things may be somewhat more difficult for a while, but these are all challenges that have been dealt with by the borough before,” Sosa told the commission.
Sosa said the four headhunting firms he has researched would cost between $18,000 and $20,000, not including the cost of bringing candidates to town for interviews. Sosa said hiring a firm could help increase the quantity and quality of applicants, which have both historically been lacking.
“I think what we have seen – at least in the search process for police chiefs – is that (the borough) really only (has) ever gotten a very limited number of qualified applicants, and that is a concern, because you want to be in a position of finding it difficult to choose the individual you want from several highly qualified applicants. And that historically has not been the case,” he said.
A final decision will be made by the Haines Borough Assembly.