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Weimar City Council narrowly approved to expand the qualifications for police chiefs to include living up to 50 miles outside of city limits for a top candidate for the empty position, Thursday, March 12.
Previously, police chiefs had to reside within city limits within 90 days of accepting the position. City Manager David Mason said a city committee interviewed two candidates suggested by the Texas Police Chiefs Association and that the best one needs the changes to become the next chief. Mayor Carlton Tucker said three other candidates were on board with living inside city limits but could not “provide what we needed ultimately for long-term longevity” nor be “the type of person that we feel like you all deserve.”
“The two police chiefs that served on the committee said they support this 100%, felt like it’s the best possible candidate that we could choose for this position to fit what Weimar is, what it could be, what he could make it,” Tucker said. “These decisions as they’re discussed are never made lightly.”
The council voted 2-1 with Christen and Councilwoman Place 1 Becky Roberts voting in favor and Councilman Place 3 Ronell Wilson voting against. Former Weimar Police Chief Todd Jacobs disagreed with the idea, calling it a “big mistake” in public comment.
“You’ve got to have somebody that wants to be a police chief in Weimar, that wants to take stake in this community and believe in this community and be part of this community,” Jacobs said. “…If they really want to be Weimar’s police chief, they’ll move here at least to within a certain distance. If they don’t want to move here within that certain distance, then they want to be a police chief. They don’t want to be Weimar’s chief.”
Counci lman Place 2 Kyle Christen served on the interviewing committee and said the candidate does not want to move inside city limits until his two children in high school graduate. Christen said the candidate said he would move to Weimar afterwards if he enjoyed the job.
Jacobs and another citizen expressed concerns over a possible length response time of the chief to an emergency if they were far away. Jacobs questioned if other candidates previously excluded would now be eligible for the position and overlooked. Weimar Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tiffany Hougardy disagreed with Jacobs and said the city can’t rebuild its police force doing the same thing as before.
“We need the best person for the job. That’s what we need, because guess what? We’ve hired local and it hasn’t worked out,” Hougardy said. “… We’ve seen what happens when we don’t have the best person, the most qualified person. We need somebody that’s enthusiastic that’s willing to come in and rebuild our police department.”
Another citizen from the audience pointed out that a small community produces a limited pool of eligible candidates. A third citizen noted that the police chief position is the only one in the department that has a residency requirement. Christen said he believes the city has done everything possible to find a local candidate before broadening its search. Roberts said she initially was opposed to the idea but later changed her mind.
“I believe this is the guy that’s best for this job, and it took me a long time to digest…this police chief not living in Weimar,” Roberts said. “I’ve been here for 60-something years, and it was hard for me to do that, but I know that we can’t find anybody in Weimar that’s capable to giving our citizens the protection they need.”
Tucker later brought in Weimar Interim Police Chief John Kelley and recognized and expressed appreciation for his and the other current officers’ work to protect and serve the city.
