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Zephyrhills whittles list for top cop
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer ZEPHYRHILLS -- And then there were seven. A search committee leading the hunt for the city's next police chief on Thursday whittled the list of 74 applicants to seven. Those chosen will be invited to interviews scheduled for May 8. Of those who made the cut, all but one are Floridians. Zephyrhills Police Department Sgt. Randy Belasic will be invited to interview, along with Dwayne Keith Carr, chief of the Stroud Area Region Police Department in Pennsylvania; Alexander Connolly, division chief at the Stuart Police Department; Jerry Freeman, Hialeah Police Department captain; Robert Jones, Clearwater Police Department captain; William McNeil, deputy chief of operations, Casselberry Police Department; and Wayne Meissner, Clearwater Police Department captain. One of those who did not make the cut was former Pasco County Sheriff Jim Gillum. His name was never mentioned during Thursday's one-hour meeting. Search committee member Harold Sample said Gillum failed to meet the job requirement of having a four-year college degree. The committee has been instructed to decide on five finalists for City Manager Steve Spina to review. Spina will then nominate one of those five to the City Council. "These seven are very good. I don't think any one of us has a problem with any of them," said committee member Lt. Col. Richard Worch of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Other committee members Bud Stalnaker, president of Community National Bank, and Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney Bernie McCabe said interviewing Belasic was a must. A business or a city has to look to its own people first when it comes to promotions, Stalnaker said. Stalnaker said that as a businessman, he was looking at applicants who showed they would stick with a job for a long time, rather than hopping from position to position. Others committee members said they were also looking for a four-year degree or better, experience in the job, the size of the city where the candidate worked and the level of job training and certification. The city is looking to replace retiring Chief Robert Howell, who started at the department when he was 24 and has worked there 40 years. The Zephyrhills Police Department has a $2.5-million budget and employs 29 officers. The chief's job will pay $45,283 to $65,660, depending on experience. The city hopes to have the new chief in place this summer to allow a transition before Howell's retirement in October.
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From today's Pasco Times |
