Pool of 35 Cedar Rapids police chief applicants narrowed to 21

Thirty-five candidates have applied to be the city's new police chief, including four current commanders in the Police Department.

On Friday, the city's three-member Civil Service Commission made its initial review of the applicant pool and whittled it to 21 applicants with the help of Conni Huber, the city's human resources director, and national search consultant Jim Mercer, president of The Mercer Group Inc.

Nancy Evans, commission chairwoman, called Friday's work a “first pass” through the chief candidates, and she said the commission eliminated 14 because they didn't meet the city requirements. By way of example, she said some candidates did not hold an appropriate rank in their current assignment, while others might be working at departments much smaller than the Cedar Rapids department.

The four internal candidates remain in the group of 21 applicants still under consideration, Evans said.

The commission will meet again next week to further review the applicant pool, and possibly reduce the number further. After that, consultant Mercer will conduct a reference check to make sure the applications are accurate, and then the commission will ask the remaining candidates to answer a series of “reasonably complicated” questions in writing, said Evans.

She said the written questions help “weed out” candidates who may be applying for several jobs but really don't have a strong interest in the Cedar Rapids job. Video interviews via Skype will follow. Evans said the actual number of video interviews will likely be fewer than 21, but at the same time, she said, the commission didn't want to eliminate too many candidates based on just what they have put in writing.

“We've got some excellent candidates,” Evans said. “So many are really qualified people, so there's a good reason to take your time.”

She said the bulk of the candidates are from the Midwest, including some from elsewhere in Iowa. Applicants now at jobs in four East Coast states and three western states also have applied for the Cedar Rapids job, she said.

Gender is not asked on the Cedar Rapids application, so Evans said she didn't know if any women had applied for the job. Three first names of the 35 applicants could be either male or female, she said.

The city's Huber told the commission on Friday that City Manager Jeff Pomeranz hopes to name a new chief by mid-September. The commission will send Pomeranz a certified list of applicants some time before that. Pomeranz will then conduct his own review. He hires the police chief with the approval of the City Council.

Cedar Rapids is seeking a new chief to fill the vacancy created when Greg Graham left in January to head the Ocala, Fla., Police Department. He had been deputy chief at the Florida department before he came to Cedar Rapids in June 2008, two weeks before the city's record 2008 flood.

Richard Stephens, Cedar Rapids' deputy chief, served as interim chief through the end of March when he retired. The department's three captains, Tom Jonker, Steve O'Konek and Bernie Walther, are taking 60-day turns as interim chief until the new chief is in place.

All three captains have been expected to compete for the chief's job. O'Konek and Walther were finalists for the position in 2008.

Michael Birmingham and Kory Kazimour are members of the Civil Service Commission, along with Evans.