The head of the mayor's new nominating committee hopes to have a replacement ready to go when Columbus Chief of Police James Jackson retires in March.
Christie Angel says she's not sure how many people will be eligible for the position, and that will likely play a role in how long the selection process lasts. "We will take as long as we need to find the right candidate for the job," Angel said.
City Civil Service rules say eligible candidates must be a current deputy chief or commander. Angel also says the selection will be different from when Chief Jackson was chosen nearly two decades ago.
"The last time it was what they call a competitive process where the candidates at a minimum took some kind of exam then were selected from the list that was developed after the exam," Angel said.
Angel says this time, the selection will be based on the person's traits and achievements, not a score. Dan Williamson says the mayor wanted a more holistic process.
"He wanted a process that would reflect some community input rather than it just come from within city hall," Williamson said. "Obviously he and the safety director will ultimately choose the chief of police but because it's important to the community to the city as a whole who their chief is. He thought that it was important to have a screening committee where there's not just city insiders choosing it."