Committee Talks to Police Chief Candidates. (Press Enterprise 07112006). A Seven-member panel suggests finalists, but the city won't say who or how ma

Rialto is still holding the choice for Chief close to their side. I am happy to know that there has not been any leaks of any kind. There are a great many people that apply for these positions, and they put their career on the line hoping that they will be hired. The News plasters their names all over the paper's and the Jobs that they currently have get a little upset, Especially when they are neighboring city's or what would be worse would be the upper part of the Sheriff Department Applying for the Chief of Rialto. If I fit the qualifications I would submit my application if they were going to assure my name would not be released to the public.

However ultimately these as things go the Law Enforcement Grape vine is always working and most of what is on the Grape vine gets confirmed down the road. I hope for the People that Applied that they don't get into trouble at work. That $160K a year is a hard thing to not apply for.

BSRanch

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Committee talks to police chief candidates

RIALTO: A seven-member panel suggests finalists, but the city won't say who or how many.

07:49 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 11, 2006

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise

Rialto is closer to hiring a new police chief who will be responsible for rebuilding the department three months after the City Council dropped plans to disband it.

A seven-member committee Thursday recommended finalists to the city after meeting with eight candidates who applied for the job.

However, the city is not disclosing the identities or qualifications of the finalists because it does not want to jeopardize their jobs with other police agencies, City Administrator Henry Garcia said.

Though the committee was asked to name three finalists, Garcia also would not say how many it recommended.

"I can say the interviews went exceptionally well," he said.

"We will continue to work through the process and hope to make an announcement the latter part of this week."

The announcement will come with a conditional job offer to the top candidate, pending the completion of a medical examination, background check and psychological evaluation, Garcia said.

A reference check and drug screening also are conditions of employment.

The completion of those checks should take two to three weeks, Garcia said.

"I could have someone on board sometime early- to mid-August," he said.

The committee was made up of the interim police chief, city administrator, mayor, one City Council member, a police union representative and two members of the public.

Ray Farmer, Rialto's mayor from 1998 to 2000 was selected to represent residents because of his experience with city issues, Councilman Ed Scott, who also served on the committee, has said. Jerry Gutierrez, a 29-year Rialto resident and lieutenant with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, also was selected to serve.

The city's refusal to identify the top candidates before a decision is made is fair, said Steve Buttress, who volunteered to serve on the committee.

"It's not fair to a candidate to have his name revealed if he has no chance," he said.

Buttress said he was surprised that the interview process ended quickly.

"I would have thought (the committee) would have gotten it down to a handful of people and then reinterviewed them before making a recommendation," he said.

The interviews came after the City Council abandoned plans to contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The decision prompted the Rialto Police Benefit Association to file a series of lawsuits.

The battle included an attempt to let Rialto voters decide if the department should be disbanded.

In March, the City Council dropped the matter and began negotiating with the police union to draft a restructuring plan.

The new chief must make customer service a high priority, have high ethical standards, adjust positively to setbacks or challenges and understand the department's past issues in order to move forward, says the department's restructuring plan, authored by interim Police Chief Frank Scialdone and Garcia.

Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com