City of Ithaca
Chief of Police Search Process
Police Chief Pick Down to Two Names
City Panel Won't Reveal Candidates
Ithaca's police chief search is down to two finalists, but Mayor Alan Cohen and members of the search screening committee have decided not to reveal the names of those people to the public.
Screening committee members gave Cohen the two names on May 22, and Cohen will visit the site of one of the finalists next week, he said.
Cohen and screening committee members will make site visits the following week as well, with a final screening committee meeting set for June 26. The mayor expects to name a new chief by the first week of July, Cohen said.
The mayor said no one on the screening committtee supported the idea of releasing the names to the public or asking for public input at this point in the process.
"The part where the community had input was completed in the early stages of the winter," said Joanne Farbman, screening committee co-chairwoman. "At this point, the search committee and the mayor have taken over."
The decision whether to release the names ultimately rests with the mayor. He is not legally obligated to do so, but on Friday, Cohen seemed to be mulling over the possibility.
Initially, names of finalists were kept secret because candidates applying for the job hadn't informed their towns or cities of their intentions and were worried about losing their jobs, Farbman said. As of Friday she did not even know if the finalists had been contacted.
At this point in the process some residents feel the mayor and the committee should be forthcoming.
"I wasn't real impressed with the way they've gone about picking the new police chief, but we've had all this public input so far, why stop now?" said Mike Theusen, a downtown businessman and founder of the West End Breakfast Club. "It wouldd be a good idea to know who the finaalists are."
Steve Shriffrin, an Ithaca City School District Board of Education member, questioned the rationale for withholding the names.
"Certainly if they are visiting both sites and the names are going to come out anyway it's hard to understand what the interest is in maintaining confidentiality at this point," said Shiffrin, also a Cornell University professor of law. "In the absence of some special concern for privacy, at this point is seems that they should have greater sensitivity to the need for good community relations."
Shiffrin cited the selection process for superintendent of the Ithaca City School District as an example of total public input. They were given maximum exposure to the public during separate two-day visits in May 1996.
Each candidate met during the day with interest groups composed of parents, district employees and administrators, and community groups. The sessions were capped off with public meetings in Kulp Auditorium on the Ithaca High School campus. The night meetings were open to the public.
Finalists made brief presentations, telling of their background, experience and beliefs about education. Then the floor was open for public questioning. Each public session was taped by Ithaca High School students for rebroadcast on public television. Each candidate was taken on a tour of schools as well as the larger community.
But screening committee member Mike Yarrow said "the next stage is a very critical part of the process, having teams do site visits and get various takes on the candidates. We wanted to be careful as we could be."
And, he added, "it was amazing that people from such a wide spectrum had such similar takes" on the finalists. "I'm comfortable with the process."
So is Bob Romanowski, another screening committee member, who said that withholding the names made sense under the circumstances.
"We decided it was best not to release the names (because) people applying for high profile jobs like this have certain requirements -- it's a personnel issue," he said. "These guys do not want to have their names bandied about until the final process is completed."
Romanowski, a former Republican Common Council member and self-proclaimed conservative, said he would have spoken out if he thought the selection process was questionable.
Cohen took pains as the process was started to make sure it was open to all. Several public forums were held and people were asked to submit lists of characteristics they thought were important in the next chief.
Six finalists were chosen and five came to town for interviews, with the other finalist dropping out.
Each candidate met for interviews with the 12-member police chief screening committee. Candidates were then grilled by 70 selected members of nine stakeholder groups.
"We really did rake them over the coals, so maybe the screening committee feels there's been enough public input" said Audrey Cooper, a member of the People of Color committee. "But I'd like to know why they won't release the names at this point."
The Ithaca Journal
June 2, 1997
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