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LAKE GENEVA’S BELOVED CHIEF
Commissioner Condos made a motion to remove item 9 d.; discussion/action – update job description chief of police, from the police and fire commission agenda last Thursday night. Spyro Condos verbalized his concern and opposition to that part of the agenda item. Lake Geneva is in the process of hiring a new police chief, and the idea of changing the job description after applicants have already submitted applications could possibly cause legal problems for the city and might also be a bad idea in other areas as far as legalities are concerned.
The fact that Commissioner Saul sent out emails to the rest of the commissioners, regarding qualifications and requirements other departments have for police chief positions, questioning whether or not Lake Geneva should include some or all the suggestions he was proposing. Commissioner Condos indicated that there might be a lack of integrity discussed, by the entire commission, and should have not been brought to the commission’s attention before a public quorum took place. Transparency is vital and expected of the police and fire commission and should not be jeopardized, Condos stated.
The Lake Geneva Police and Fire Commission Chair, Jim Connors, defended Commissioner Saul by replying that the email had no response from any commissioner and no boundaries were stretched or broken. Commissioner Saul gave in at that point and said that his actions were in the wrong, for sending the email, and that he was naive about the open quorum guidelines. He also indicated he was sorry he sent it but did so with the best of intentions about educating the commissioners on possible expectations of a new police chief and on the hiring process in general. The hiring of a new chief has been a controversial topic with the commission and has some questions of potential hidden agendas by some commissioners.
The current commissioners seem to be novices when it comes to the procedure of hiring the important position of a police chief and are obviously learning as they go. Commissioner Condos needs to be listened to at almost every juncture of the hiring process, as he’s so very experienced. It’s going to be difficult for the local communities around the lake to say goodbye to Chief Rasmussen when he retires, as he leaves behind some very big shoes to fill. At last week’s meeting, the commissioners discussed how they wanted to go about the hiring process for the new chief. After a little discussion, the commission agreed there will be two rounds of interviews with the four final candidates.
The first round will be held on July 20th, and 21st, with two interviews per night and an interview time of an hour and a half. Before the first round, each commissioner will thoroughly go through each application and resume. Then they each will submit five questions they would like to ask each applicant and will come together as a group to decide which questions will finally be used. After the first round has been completed the next round will take place on July 28th, with an hour for more questions asked by the commissioners and applicants alike.
The problem that comes into play is that the commission can’t decide on the exact date the new chief will start officially leading the police department. Some think it should be September 16th, which is Chief Rasmussen’s first official day off from the office and field. He is technically on vacation until March of next year but will be available to assist the department when and if needed. Some commissioners think that the new chief should start the day after Chief Rasmussen officially retires in March. This positional decision is possibly the biggest decision of all the commissioner’s tenure, and we are fortunate enough to have four great candidates who are more than qualified to lead, protect, and support Lake Geneva and the other lake communities. Hopefully, the commission will make its final decision by the August fire and commission meeting.
