By JESSIE HORTON
TheFlashToday.com
Both Erath County cities are currently without a police chief. While the city of Stephenville’s chief has been serving as interim city manager, Dublin PD has been without a chief since December when then-chief Shawn Fullagar left for a job in Plano.
When the Stephenville City Administrator Mark Kaiser resigned from the city several months ago, Stephenville Police Chief Patrick Bridges stepped into the spot to help as interim until a more permanent solution could be found. Bridges was named the top candidates in the search for a city administrator by the Stephenville City Council and was appointed to the position Tuesday night. Upon his position becoming permanent, the Stephenville PD will be looking for a chief. Currently, Sgt. Jason King is serving as interim police chief.
The search for a chief in Dublin began with Fullagar’s announcement in November, and Dublin City Hall accepted applications through the first of January. Dublin City Administrator Nancy Wooldridge and Dublin Mayor David Leatherwood said they received 37 resumes from applicants from as far away as New York City and several others from out of state and as close as three from Erath County.
“We are looking for that one person that will continue to improve Dublin PD,” Leatherwood said. “I’m confident we will have it narrowed down to one in time for the February council meeting.”
Wooldridge said she would look into each serious application and present those applicants to the committee.
“The mayor has formed a committee of council members to look at the applications and select possible candidates for the position,” she said Tuesday. “They will try to bring it down to about ten at first. From there we will get down to five or six for the first round of interviews, and then down to the final two or three for the last set of
interviews.”
Wooldridge said they were looking at lots of different aspects of the applicants.
“We’re looking at how many years they’ve served already,
and where they’ve served and how much or little where they were before is similar to Dublin,” she said. “We’re also interested in other things like different certifications, experience in different fields and if they can speak Spanish.”
Wooldridge said Leatherwood was hoping to have a final candidate by the February meeting. However, she said that may or may not be possible considering the large amount of interested people who have applied.
“No matter what the committee and then the council decide, we’ve been in good hands with Sgt. (Bennie) Noel,” Wooldridge said. “He’s done a wonderful job filling in while the council looks for the best possible person for the job, and we’re really glad to have him.”
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