Mayor Kathy Taylor Searches For A New Police Chief

Tuesday, May 8th 2007, 7:24 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa could have a new police chief in just a few days. The mayor finds out on Thursday if she will be forced to hire one of three internal candidates or if she can hire a person from outside the department. If she's allowed to go outside, no one will have had any opportunity to question her choice, because the candidates have been kept secret. News On 6 anchor Lori Fullbright reports some wonder if the mayor is trying to skirt the open records law by conducting a private search.

Many police officers we've talked to feel the process has been too secretive for such a public position. We requested a list of the final candidates from the mayor's office, but was told no, since the search is being paid for by private money rather than tax dollars.

Mayor Kathy Taylor has made it clear that she prefers to have a police chief of her choosing from outside the current ranks of the department. Three men within the department who have been certified as viable candidates say she must hire one of them or she's violating the city's charter. A civil service hearing is set for Thursday to answer that question.

The mayor recently sent a memo to the current acting chief that says, if she learns on Thursday she must hire from within, she will announce an interim chief the next day. If she's allowed from without, she will announce a permanent chief. Darin Filak, the president of the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, says it's been a frustrating process.

"It's been real secretive. We haven't heard anything from the mayor's office,â€ said Filak. â€œThe only thing we've been told is we'll be excited about who the candidates are, no names, region, location or anything. We're just as in the dark as everyone else."

The mayor's office says because the search firm is being paid for by private funds, it doesn't fall under the open records law, so she doesn't have to release information about the finalists. She says she's not skirting the law or being secretive, but prefers to keep personnel matters private in order to protect candidates who are already in high profile jobs. She compares it to a university hiring a football coach. The search is done privately until a coach is named.

However, other public entities, like the school board, have released final candidates when selecting a superintendent. The group that's paying the search firm is called the Police Foundation and is headed by Jeff Stava, a man who recently ran for city council. He says the foundation's mission is to raise private money to buy things for the police department that are not covered in the city budget, as a way to show support for police. He says the mayor asked the group to pay for the search and it's paid approximately $15,000 so far.

People who disagree with the mayor's approach to this job search say a democratic government should be run openly, so the public is fully informed. On the flip side, some argue, if the candidates are made public, few people would apply, because it would jeopardize their current job.

The mayor says she treated the internal candidates with the same respect and kept their names private, until they chose to go public.

Watch the video: The Search For Tulsa's Top Cop Continues