GILMORE
By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Verona is among a small group of cities in Northeast Mississippi where the aldermen interview and hire all city employees, including police officers.
A survey of 10 cities with populations ranging from around 2,000 to 4,500 revealed only two boards that interview all potential new hires. Most boards let a police chief make the decision for the department.
“The board conducts interviews with all city employees,” said Verona Ward 3 Alderwoman Jessie Gilmore. “The department heads make recommendations, but all of them come before the board, and the board decides how many are hired. We do that for all departments.”
The process in Verona, a city of 3,000, came to light when former Police Chief Bill Johnson complained of micromanagement including not being allowed to sit in on board interviews with prospective police officers.
“We asked (Johnson) to go through all the applications and to bring us the four he liked best and we would pick two (to be hired),” said Ward 4 Alderman Julian Riley.
Baldwyn, Belmont, Bruce, Fulton, Guntown, Houston and Iuka city officials say they leave the selection of police officers to the police chief. The board then signs off on the hire.
“We trust him to make intelligent decisions and follow his recommendations,” said Guntown Mayor Bud Herring.
“We pretty much let the chief go through the interview process and bring us who he thinks is best,” said Belmont Mayor Buddy Wiltshire. “We try our best not to mess with the hiring process or micromanage.”
The aldermen in Okolona and Nettleton oversee all aspects of hiring and firing of city employees, just like Verona. Okolona and Nettleton have elected police chiefs.
“The chief goes through the applications and does the background checks,” said Nettleton Mayor Jimmy Taylor. “The board likes to look at all the applicants, because the chief might cull some that might be better.
“The chief has the opportunity for input, but the board does the hiring.”
Okolona Mayor Louis Floyd Cole said she likes to have at least two aldermen sit in with Police Chief Willie Moore Jr. during the preliminary interviews with police candidates.
“The top candidates then go before the entire board to be interviewed,” said Cole, “and we try to follow the recommendation of the chief.”
Saltillo has a standing hiring committee that oversees all city hiring.
“We let the department heads cull the applicants. The hiring committee and the department head interview them and we take the best,” said Mayor Rex Smith.
Tupelo, which has a mayor-council form of government, is set up for the mayor and department heads to make hiring decisions. While the City Council has sign-off authority on department head appointments, council members aren’t supposed to be involved in day-to-day department operations.
william.moore@journalinc.com