Recently, people have been stopping by the paper to inquire about Gary Smith, the candidate for Emporia police chief.
People have read about how Smith has been on medical leave from his current job as police chief in Northfield, Minn., since July and has strained relationships with his current city administration. These issues have caused people to ask whether he is the right person to be Emporia’s next police chief.
Obviously it would better if Mr. Smith did not have these marks on his record, but it is hard to know all the circumstances surrounding Smith’s situation without having sat through the interviews with him.
We talked with City Manager Matt Zimmerman, and he has assured us that for Smith to get to this point he has had to clear many hurdles. Zimmerman said all these issues have been discussed with Smith and he has been open.
The city has also done extensive interviews with people who worked with Smith and has run independent background investigations. Smith received high marks from an independent interview board consisting of Emporia school Superintendent John Heim, ESU President Mike Lane, Flint Hills Technical College President Dean Hollenbeck, retired police chief Larry Blomenkamp, and Assistant City Manager Mark McAnarney. A passing mark from that board should deliver some confidence to the community.
To date, Zimmerman has not offered Smith a job, and the city is currently waiting to see whether Smith will receive medical clearances.
Will Smith receive the job or not? It is too soon to say.
The bottom line is that hiring people is a gamble because you never know how people are going to work out.
At this point in the hiring process, we need to trust that Zimmerman is using his 25 years of experience to pick the right person to make our community better.
Christopher White Walker
Editor & Publisher
jasonesu (anonymous) says...
If Smith becomes the new chief will he be required to go to the academy to become a certified law enforcement agent in the state of Kansas?
December 6, 2007 at 4:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bjnemp (anonymous) says...
Good grief. What a backhanded insult. If he wasn't totally qualified I'm sure he wouldn't even be considered for the job. With the attitudes displayed by many who reply in this forum, I don't know why anyone would want to move here.
December 6, 2007 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spectator (anonymous) says...
It's not a backhanded insult. It's a valid question and I believe state statute requires a new hire to become Kansas CERTIFIED within 1 year of the initial hire date unless already Kansas certified. "Qualified" is not the same as certified.
December 6, 2007 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
hes been through the fbi academy wouldnt that override the kansas one? if he has gone through all the training that he has and been in law enforcement as long as he has, he shouldnt have a problem with the kansas certification.
December 6, 2007 at 6:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spectator (anonymous) says...
Not 100% certain, but I think the state statute still requires KANSAS certification and I agree that he will likely be OK with K.L.E.T.C.
December 6, 2007 at 6:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tmac (anonymous) says...
I don't know Mr. Zimmerman or Chief Smith. They both could be very competent at their jobs. However, would have thought The Gazette, in the tradition of the great W.A. White, would have done a bit more investigating than a simple let's ask the city manager. How about talking to people in the community where Chief Smith now serves. How about looking up past news articles on his activities. In other words, how about doing some digging.
Simply repeating the city manager's belief that Smith is a good candidate is not good watchdog journalism. How about asking the people that really know -- the residents of Northfield.
December 6, 2007 at 6:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
on the other forum about this topic, some of the northfield residents have posted their comments on him, one offered to answer questions, they say really good things about him
December 6, 2007 at 8:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spectator (anonymous) says...
.....and there is a post that says the Northfield PD people are real happy he's gone.
December 7, 2007 at 11:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
I question whether it is fair for Smith, or fair for Emporia, to place a person in order to meet a self-imposed deadline. OK Zim, maybe they do things at a faster pace in Chicago than they do in Kansas.... but that doesn't make it right. I'm not sure this is a hurdle that Smith or Emporia will be able to make. Zim - when in Rome (Emporia).... maybe you should slow your pace & fit into the community, rather than expect the community to fit into you. Personally, I think you should have started over rather than taken second choice.
December 8, 2007 at 9:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Well, for the record, Smith, in my opinion was a good police chief and is a good man. Of course, as Smith himself once said, when you are chief of police, you will always have people that love the jobb you do, you will have people that hate the job you do and you will have people that dont care one way or the other.
I agree with Smith, you are never going to please everyone, you will always have your haters tno matter how well you do because some people, that is lal they know how to do is hate. It is sad but true.
That said, Smith will expose problems the city of Emporia has, he is not politically correct and isnt afraid to be brash and tell the truth, some people cannot handle that and some people will dislike him because he doesnt act like everything is hunky doory 100 percent of the time.
December 22, 2007 at 7:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
"Smith will expose problems the city of Emporia has" Good, maybe he'll expose the bullying going on at the high school.
December 23, 2007 at 9:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )