MANKATO — Three law enforcement officers underwent a daylong interrogation Monday, but there was no danger of them confessing, demanding to speak to an attorney or exercising their right to remain silent.
The two Mankato cops and one from Texas voluntarily submitted to dozens of questions as they sought to become the city’s police and fire chief. As the ordeal for the three contenders was nearing its end, Mankato City Manager Susan Arntz was pleased with the quality of the contenders even while lamenting the difficult choice she faced.
“I think we’ve got three great candidates,” Arntz said.
Seeking the position, officially called “director of public safety,” were Jeremy Clifton, assistant director of operations in Mankato; Matt DuRose, deputy director in Mankato; and Wade Lyons, a commander in the police department of Austin, Texas.
The men rotated through four panels of interviewers starting Monday morning and continuing until a late-afternoon reception.
One panel was made up of a member of each of the employee unions that represent different categories of police officers and firefighters. It was a unique opportunity, in Arntz’s words, “to interview their next boss.”
Another panel was made up of the city’s top department heads — people such as Public Works Director Jeff Johnson, Community Development Director Mark Konz and Administrative Services Director Parker Skophammer.
Another panel represented citizens, including a member of the Public Safety Advisory Commission.
“I got a debrief from each of them,” Arntz said.
Arntz didn’t need a report from the fourth panel because she was on it, joined by a pair of outside public safety officials — a retired police chief and a current fire chief from Eden Prairie.
“So kind of uninterested third-party subject matter experts,” said Arntz, who had worked with the men prior to taking the top job in Mankato.
Of all the people asking questions and judging the quality of the answers, Arntz was the most consequential.
Under Mankato’s council-manager form of government, the seven council members hire the city manager and then defer to her in the running of the city’s day-to-day operations — including hiring decisions. Council members were not involved in any of the formal interviews, although they had a chance to question the three finalists at the informal late-afternoon reception.
While the elected officials couldn’t tell Arntz who to hire, nothing stops them from sharing their opinions with her.
“They can and likely will,” she said.
But the final verdict is hers.
She plans to take a look at the comment cards on Tuesday, review the other feedback and decide if any follow-up questions or information is needed.
If nothing further is required, Arntz will make her selection, adding she expects a decision to be announced this week.
A total of 25 applications were received from people looking to succeed Public Safety Director Amy Vokal, who retired at the end of August. Nine were selected for a deeper review. Three made the cut as finalists, and all completed the in-person interview process.
Both Clifton and DuRose started as Mankato patrol officers roughly a quarter-century ago — Clifton in 1998 and DuRose two years later — and rose up the ranks as detective commander and police operations commander before reaching their current positions.
Lyons started with the city of Austin as a senior police officer in 2006 and has served in numerous roles including detective, lieutenant of the strategic intelligence and technology division, lieutenant of the recruiting division and commander in the training and recruiting division.
Arntz said the decision was going to be a tough one.
“Hiring is always a challenging process,” she said. “Hiring this position is probably the most important hire I’m going to make in my tenure.”
The public safety director is typically the highest profile city employee other than the city manager, and the position has become increasingly more complex in recent years.
“It’s evolved a lot in the past five years, which elevates its importance even more,” Arntz said.
Police officers and firefighters have to respond skillfully to a variety of service calls while recognizing the challenges that come with an aging population, with residents experiencing complex mental health issues, with the distrust of law enforcement felt by some demographic groups, with the opioid epidemic, with the local presence of a large contingent of college students, with the language and cultural differences that come with immigrant populations and more.
“It’s anything but straight-forward now,” Arntz said of the assignment facing rand-and-file and administrators in the Public Safety Department.
She said the new director will have the advantage of leading an organization that has made strong progress in establishing community-oriented approaches to doing the work.