Public meets 3 finalists for Iowa City police chief

IOWA CITY - Whoever is named the next Iowa City police chief will inherit an engaged public.

That much was evident Thursday night as more than 50 people filled a room to meet with and ask questions of the three finalists for the city's police chief.

The three finalists to replace Chief Sam Hargadine, who is retiring, are Capt. Rich Austin of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina, Altoona Police Chief Jody Matherly and Iowa City Police Capt. Troy Kelsay.

Thursday night's meet-and-greet at the Iowa City Senior Center represented the public's first chance to see and hear from the candidates.

After an introduction from City Manager Geoff Fruin, each candidate briefly introduced themselves and all three expressed their pleasure in seeing a sizable audience.

Austin has served with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department - a joint city and county agency - since 1993, most recently in internal affairs. He has a master's degree in public administration, music performance, criminal justice and Christian education and is working toward a doctorate in public administration.

He said Iowa City and Charlotte are comparable cities.

'I see a lot of similarities between Iowa City and Charlotte and the challenges we face,” he said.

For Matherly, Iowa City represents a combination of his law enforcement experience. After working for the Flint (Mich.) Police Department for 16 years, Matherly served as the police chief in Grinnell - home to Grinnell College in Iowa - before joining the Altoona Police Department as chief.

Matherly, who has a master's degree in interdisciplinary technology, said he looks forward to the chance to collaborating with the community.

'I'm a self-starter,” he said. 'I like to step out front and take on the difficult tasks.”

Kelsay, a 25-year veteran of the Iowa City Police Department, said he loves the Iowa City community its police department.

'This is what I know, this is what I love, this is what I want to be a part of,” he said.

But while he sees the department as one of the best in the state, he said the department should always look for ways to improve.

'We should be hypercritical of ourselves,” he said, adding input from and dialogue with the community is how that improvement can be achieved.

After introductions, the chief candidates broke off to separate areas where they fielded questions from the public. Topics ranged from disproportionate minority contact to enforcement of drug laws. Each candidate maintained a crowd of half a dozen or more members of the public throughout the two-hour event.

While she would have liked to see some more diversity in the candidates - all three men are white - Raquishia Harrington said she was impressed with the candidates' resumes.

'All of them have a lot of years of experience,” she said.

Harrington said Matherly's background in working in communities large and small was a positive for her.

For Mark Pries, senior pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, how the candidates reach out to all sectors of the community was of great importance to him.

'I was particularly interested in diversity and their familiarity in creating relationships,” Pries said. 'I am concerned for the black community in Iowa City and the incarceration rate in the jail.”

Pries praised the 'exceptional” experience of each candidate and praised Fruin for giving the public a chance to meet the men. He said whoever is selected chief would serve the city well.

'We can't lose this one,” he said.

Participants in Thursday's meet-and-greet were asked to fill out surveys and provide feedback by Nov. 17. Fruin said he hopes to make a formal recommendation on the chief's hiring to the Iowa City Council at its Dec. 6 meeting.