By Jennifer Fernandez
Greensboro News & Record
GREENSBORO — Community members who spent Thursday interviewing candidates for police chief say the city picked two strong candidates.
Today, some of those community members will sit down with City Manager Rashad Young to discuss their impressions.
“It was very interesting and I think a lot of good stuff come out of it,” said Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes, who was one of six members of the public safety panel. “I think our panel is willing to make a determination and a recommendation.”
He declined to reveal that recommendation, saying he did not speak for the panel.
The five panels separately spent 60 to 90 minutes with each finalist individually. Lisa Womack, the former chief in Elgin, Ill., and Kenneth Miller, senior deputy police chief for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, are competing for the position.
More than 30 community members were invited to be part of the assessment process. The panels are broken down into public safety, business community, public affairs, City Council districts and police department. The meetings were held at the City Learning Center on Fourth Street.
The city provided them with a list of questions to ask, but panelists also could ask their own questions, said Chris Parrish, an assistant Guilford County district attorney.
“I’m impressed by the process overall,” said Parrish, also a member of the public safety panel.
Lee Mortensen, vice president of Downtown Greensboro Inc., did not want to discuss specifics about the business community panel’s interviews. She did say both candidates came across as “very strong.”
Barnes said the topic of Womack’s resignation in April came up in his panel. “She was very upfront about what had happened and what occurred,” he said. “I’m well-satisfied with what her responses were.”
He would not elaborate, saying it was inappropriate to share that before his meeting today with Young.
Young is expected to make his selection after reviewing panelists’ comments and more information from background checks, Denise Turner, an assistant city manager, said.
Police Chief Tim Bellamy has been involved with the process and will help the next chief transition into the job, city officials have said.
Bellamy is set to retire from the city July 31. City officials hope to have the new chief in place by that time or in early August.
Thursday’s meetings were closed to the general public. The city also did not give out details such as the time or location to media.
Mike Tadych, a Raleigh attorney who represents the North Carolina Press Association, said the city didn’t follow the law.
The panels constitute a public body and by law, the public should have received notice of when and where the groups were meeting, he said. Once the meetings were convened, the groups could have called for a closed session to discuss a personnel matter, as allowed by law, he said.
City Attorney Terry Wood disagreed. He said the panels were created by the city manager, not by the City Council, and do not report to the City Council, so they are not subject to the state’s open meetings law.
Copyright 2010 Greensboro News & Record