Long-Term Plan Quashed, Chief May Not Take Part in Short-Term Solution

Chief Paul Bunten is going to take a couple days to think about how involved he’ll be in shaping the short term leadership plans for the department.

Bunten, slated to retire next year, is still stinging after the and hiring announcement at the last minute, is being asked to work with the city manager to devise a plan for an interim second in command officer in the department.

After a work session Monday night, Bunten said he wasn’t sure he wanted to be part of the process.

“There are a lot of things I have to think about in the next day or two,” said Bunten. ”I think I am standing in the way of (city council) doing what they want to do, and I have a lot of love for the city and the department, so I don't want to stand in the way.”

Police department restructuring issues have been a hot-button topic for city council this year. Plans to service drew criticism of the public and the police officers' union.

After longtime in September, Bunten recommended a plan that would have replaced the second-in-command job with a new lieutenant’s position that paid less. Saline Sgts. Jay Basso and Kevin Murphy interviewed for the position. Bunten was set to choose between them and spend the next 10 months training the person for the new administrative post before retiring after 46 years of police work. Bunten was hours away from announcing his decision when the city hit the brakes on the process.

For The Next Chief To Decide

Mayor Gretchen Driskell said that restructuring should be left to Bunten’s successor.

Monday’s work sessions didn’t cover much new ground. 

Councillor David Rhoads said the issue was a dilemma for which there were no easy answers as the department weighed filling the opening against saving money.

“Reviewing the (law enforcement agency structures) around us, my proposal would be that we not fill the position at this point in time," Rhoads said. "I have a lot of confidence in the existing staff.”

Councillor Brian Marl reiterated his previous support of the plan laid out by Bunten and city manager Todd Campbell.

“I still favor replacing the deputy chief’s position with a lieutenant and support promoting one of the two sergeants in house,” Marl said

Marl added he also worried about the impact of having a new chief and a new number two officer, whether it was a lieutenant, deputy chief of captain.

“I worry about having two new people at the top of the department and what effect that will have on the department,” Marl said. “That’s basically the approach we’re writing into stone this evening. I think it’s something to think about.”

Several council members expressed support for finding an interim administrator in some role to assist the chief in managing the department.  One suggestion was to hire one of the sergeant’s in an interim role. Bunten has stated he has concerns with that option because the sergeant’s union might not permit that employee to rejoin the union if the new chief elects to go another route for a second in command. Bunten has also questioned the wisdom of spending time to train an officer to do a job on interim basis.

Rhoads suggested hiring a retired police administrator to fill in on a temporary basis. Bunten said training an officer from outside the department would be more time consuming than training one of the sergeants.

Marl said it was imperative to find someone to do the job on an interim basis.

“I worry that if that position is left vacant for eight months, 10 months or a year, that some work will fall through the cracks,” Marl said. “As it relates to the police department, in my judgment, that’s just not acceptable.”

Marl was critical of the way the process was steered by council.

“If people have concerns I think it’s better to bring them up and articulate them early as opposed to putting the brakes on this at the 11^th hours,” said Marl.