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DC firm called for police-chief search
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
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Chief Jimmy Hughes.
YOUNGSTOWN
The mayor is in discussions with a Washington, D.C., firm to assist him in hiring a new police chief.
Mayor Jay Williams declined to disclose the name of the company but said the firm could be hired in the next two to three weeks. The two parties also need to talk about the company’s fee, the mayor said.
The firm, which specializes in “searches for police executives,” could potentially screen and evaluate candidates as well as prepare the job announcement, Williams said.
The city is looking for a new police chief with the retirement of Chief Jimmy Hughes.
Hughes retired March 18 but has agreed to run the department until Aug. 31 while the city looks for a successor, Williams said.
The goal is to have a new chief by Aug. 31, he said.
Williams said he plans to seek input from representatives of the police department’s patrolmen and ranking officers unions as well as city council through its safety committee and members of his administration.
When asked if there will be any input from residents, Williams said, “The issue of some sort of public ‘vetting’ of finalists is under consideration. If it does transpire, the manner in which it might occur is yet to be determined.”
That could be public interviews with three finalists.
But, Williams said, “This is a mayoral appointment. It’s my final decision.”
The mayor also plans to advertise in local newspapers as well as those in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and through the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, a nonprofit organization comprising police executives. Williams said those efforts will cost a “minimal” amount of money.
Williams said he’s already been contacted by a few people interested in the police-chief job.
While the search will be nationwide, Williams said he doesn’t anticipate “someone from the Los Angeles Police Department applying. I don’t think so, but stranger things have happened. Statistically, it’s a strong possibility [the next chief] will be from Ohio.”
There’s also a chance that someone with ties to the Mahoning Valley working as a police executive outside Ohio could apply for the chief’s job, he said.
Shortly after Hughes’ retirement and temporary rehire, Williams said he had discussions with his administration and talked to two or three firms about helping with a search. The D.C. company was the “best firm,” Williams said.
Hughes receives $87,915 annually as police chief.
His replacement would be paid somewhere “within that range. It’s possible it can be adjusted, but only after consultation” with the D.C. firm and city council, Williams said.
When Williams became mayor in January 2006, he appointed Hughes to replace then-Police Chief Robert Bush. Hughes was hired as a Youngstown patrolman in May 1977.
During this transition, Hughes’ salary hasn’t changed. But the city is paying only the difference between Hughes’ current salary and his pension. The city is saving about one-third of the salary, Williams said.
Hughes is retiring because it is mandated by a state retirement program — the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, known as DROP — that he signed up for in 2003.
The program allows officers to accumulate a large lump-sum of money for retirement, about $500,000 for Hughes, but those who participate in DROP have up to eight years to retire.
If a participant doesn’t retire within eight years of signing up for the program, he forfeits the money.
About a dozen of the city police department’s most senior and highest-ranked officers have either retired in the past few months or will retire later this year.