Frustration over the police chief hiring process was evident at Sandusky’s city council meeting on Monday night, with both citizens and council members voicing displeasure and discomfort for how things have been handled in the process.
In addition to two public comments expressing confusion as to why interim police chief Matthew Gezequel was not a finalist in the process despite his qualifications, one commenter also said that the ongoing hiring process had caused distrust of the council in the city. This was somewhat echoed by council member Todd Hillman, who said that he was unhappy and uncomfortable with how the situation had been handled: “I think it should have been done a little more thoroughly, [with] a little more communication put out.”
He noted that some council members had not even seen the position’s job description when it was posted, and alleged that it had not been actually posted to the job site for the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which led to mostly internal candidates.
Despite plans to review and discuss the tentative contract for chosen police chief finalist Steve McKenny at the September 15 meeting, City Manager Dave Faber shared that the contract was not ready as of yet. City attorney Scott Radloff is working on it, and is expected to be finished within the week.
This was a major sticking point for several council members, with councilmen Hillman and Brad Harris making it clear that the council members needed time to properly go through the contract, and Harris saying that if the council did not receive the contract with enough time to review it, any associated special meeting would be cancelled.
A special meeting to officially review and approve the contract is tentatively set for Monday, September 22 at 5:00 p.m., with a personnel committee meeting to be held half an hour prior at 4:30 p.m.
