CITY SHOULD HIRE POLICE, FIRE CHIEFS BY SUMMER'S END

Cape Girardeau should have new fire and police chiefs by the end of summer.

City Manager Michael Miller and his staff in coming weeks will interview nine candidates already chosen from a pool of 56 applicants for fire chief. An as yet undetermined number of finalists will be selected following the face-to-face interviews.

The city will accept applications for police chief through July 15. That pool will be similarly trimmed until a winning candidate is selected.

"During July, we would like to get a fire chief named; probably about mid-August for police chief," Miller said.

Cape Girardeau has been without a fire chief since April when Dan White resigned to become chief of the Bentonville, Ark., fire department. The city's previous police chief, Rick Hetzel, left the department in June to take a public relations position at St. Francis Medical Center.

Assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider and police Capt. Steve Strong have been serving as acting chiefs of their respective departments.

White's earlier departure is why the selection process for fire chief is further along than that for police chief.

Miller said the group of fire chief candidates to be interviewed is of "high quality" and includes applicants from both within and outside of the department.

The finalists for each post will meet with employees of the relevant department, and the employees will be able to offer input. Miller said the public won't have an opportunity to meet the candidates or provide comment.

Both previous chiefs earned salaries of approximately $60,000 a year. Miller said specific salary ranges hadn't been set for the new chiefs.

Miller will make the final hiring decisions, which aren't subject to approval by the city council. However, the council members will meet the finalists and offer opinions.

Mayor Al Spradling III said the new chiefs should be people who are strong administrators and good at communicating with both members of their department and the community. Spradling said both jobs are high-stress positions, and the successful candidates must be capable of dealing with that.

The new chiefs should also "get out front" and support their officers or firefighters and address the needs of each department, Spradling said.

"I think the primary issues both will deal with is salaries, retention of officers or firefighters and gaining the trust of their departments," Spradling said.