Roy Eckerdt

As the City of Powell begins its search for a new police chief, it’s bringing in some extra help.

On Monday night, the Powell City Council voted to hire KRW Associates to assist with the selection process. The Colorado Springs, Colorado-based consulting firm will be paid $19,500 for its work.

City Administrator Zack Thorington — who will ultimately be tasked with choosing a replacement for retiring Chief Roy Eckerdt — recommended bringing KRW on board. Given the position’s importance to the city and community, Thorington said he wanted some additional expertise.

KRW brings extensive experience with helping cities, towns and counties search for chiefs, administrators and other executives; it will help the city develop a job description and then recruit, vet and rank candidates.

“A company like this can help us get the best candidates, whether that’s internally or externally,” Thorington told the council. In hiring a consultant, “you’re investing in a person to run that department and you’re investing in the city for [the] future [rather] than just shooting from the hip,” he said.

Powell Mayor John Wetzel was fully supportive, believing KRW will help hone the city’s search.

“I also believe that whoever we hire will be validated knowing they’ve gone through a pretty strenuous search process and not just picked off the street by me or somebody else,” Wetzel said.

Before working with KRW on a job description, Thorington will consult with council members on what they’d like to see in the next chief; both the administrator and the mayor said they’ve been pleased with Eckerdt’s performance.

Wetzel offered the outgoing chief a hearty “thank you” at Monday’s meeting and Thorington said he has fielded multiple calls from community members and organizations expressing their gratitude for Eckerdt.

“They’ve been very, very, very happy over the last 12 years, so I appreciate it, chief,” Thorington said.

Eckerdt said it’s been a pleasure.

“We have an advantage here that a lot of places don’t,” Eckerdt said, referring to the support he’s received from the city and community. “I hope that is something that’s a consideration in a chief in moving forward — that our relationship with the community has got to be paramount.”

Eckerdt also agreed that KRW’s process will add legitimacy to the hiring process while the vetting will prove helpful.

“I think you will see a large number of candidates,” he told the council, “so to have somebody be able to weed through some of those will be beneficial.”

The position will be posted online and in statewide and national professional publications for at least 30 days; KRW will also draw on its contacts to recruit potential candidates.

The application period is expected to close sometime in late January. KRW will sort the candidates into three different tiers and the city will select 10 to 12 semifinalists.

KRW will research and interview the city’s picks and write a detailed report, recommending four to six finalists.

Once the city has picked its top few contenders, KRW will dive deeper into their backgrounds — checking references, verifying their educational credentials and work history and researching their general conduct, legal history and social media activity.

“If there have been any position changes over the past 5-10 years which were not considered promotions, KRW will research and provide details on the circumstances of the change,” the firm wrote in its proposal.

KRW will then help set up an in-person interview process between city officials and the finalists in late February. The proposal mentions that the firm could also arrange a community reception, where members of the public could meet the candidates.

Leading KRW’s efforts will be Lorne Kramer, a former police chief and city manager in Colorado Springs, and Mark Collins, whose experience includes serving as the city administrator in Laramie and Sheridan; Collins also led the Powell Recreation District from 1981 to 1992.

In its proposal, KRW wrote that, “we are confident we will identify and bring only quality candidates worthy of consideration for this opportunity to serve the City of Powell as your next chief of police.”

After looking over the services the firm will provide, Councilman Steve Lensegrav said the $19,500 price tag appeared pretty reasonable.

“It seems like you get a lot of bang for the buck — which you don’t always necessarily get,” he said.

Councilman Floyd Young agreed that KRW’s process will help the city and ultimately show the public that “the best person was put forward.”

If the city’s chosen candidate resigns within their first 12 months or fails to complete 12 months of service because of performance issues, KRW says it will help find another candidate at no cost beyond expenses. However, the firm says 90% of their placements serve for at least five years. As one example, Cody Police Chief Chuck Baker was hired with KRW’s assistance in 2016 and he led the city’s police department for seven years before retiring last summer.

Powell’s police chief position officially becomes vacant next week, with Tuesday being Eckerdt’s last day on the job. Lt. Matt McCaslin will lead the department while the search for a replacement is underway.

Thorington indicated it will be a collaborative process, telling the council the new chief will be chosen “with the help of everybody.”