19 hopefuls left for police chief

CEDAR RAPIDS - After additional work this week, the city's Civil Service Commission has trimmed its list of candidates for police chief to 19 from an original list of 35 applicants.

Four of the 19 are current commanders in the Police Department and two more are from other departments in Iowa, Conni Huber, the city's human resources director, said Wednesday. The internal candidates are Capt. Steve O'Konek, who was a finalist for the job in 2008, and three lieutenants, Brent Long, Joe Clark and Dominic Wibe.

Candidates now will be asked to complete a series of written questions that Nancy Evans, chairwoman of the three-member commission, has characterized as “reasonably complicated.” The panel then expects to interview candidates via Skype - software that allows video calls over the Internet - in late July or early August as it works to whittle down the number of candidates to a group of certified finalists.

The commission will send City Manager Jeff Pomeranz its certified list for Pomeranz's own review and interviews. He hires the police chief with the approval of the City Council, a decision that is expected by mid-September.