43
Mayor: New chief of police will be hired from within
Photo
Mayor Charles Sammarone
Photo
Jimmy Hughes
Sammarone, Brown sworn in to offices sworn in to office
YOUNGSTOWN
Mayor Charles Sammarone said the next police chief will be someone already on the force and that person will be “in place” about a week before Aug. 31, current Chief Jimmy Hughes’ last day.
Local reporters asked Sammarone about the police-chief search after his ceremonial swearing-in Tuesday in city council chambers at city hall.
Sammarone said his administration has discussed finding a replacement for Hughes with the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, a nonprofit group composed of police executives.
Detective Sgt. Donald Scott, also an attorney, and Capt. Rod Foley, chief of the detective division, have confirmed their interest in the chief’s job.
Sammarone told The Vindicator two weeks ago that his relatively short time as mayor — his term ends Dec. 31, 2013 — may make it difficult to “get a top-notch applicant” for police chief. The police chief is an employee hired and fired at the sole discretion of the mayor.
Youngstown officers are protected under civil-service law, and if the next mayor doesn’t retain the new chief, that person would return to his/her previous job on the force. That wouldn’t be the case for someone hired from outside the department, Sammarone said.
Sammarone became mayor Aug. 1, replacing Jay Williams, who resigned to be executive director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. As council president, Sammarone automatically succeeded Williams.
Jamael Tito Brown, the 3rd Ward councilman, replaced Sammarone as council president.
Both participated in Tuesday’s ceremonial swearing-in. Sammarone postponed the event until his family could attend.
The new mayor said he wants to improve code enforcement and better organize demolitions in city neighborhoods.