Ashland, Ore. — Ashland will be getting a new police chief this year. Chief Terry Holderness is planning to retire in April and now the search is on for his replacement.
Holderness said it was originally supposed to be five years at the helm of the Ashland Police Department.
“I think it’s time to give someone else an opportunity after 8 years,” began Holderness.
“Every once in a while it’s good for somebody with some new ideas to come in,” he continued.
Holderness’ last day will be April 17th. The goal is to have a new chief hired by June.
“They’re going to do a nationwide search, but we do have an internal candidate,” said Holderness.
That candidate is Deputy Chief Tighe O’Meara.
“He came to us from an agency in the Detroit area where he was a lieutenant there for five years before he came here,” Holderness said.
According to Holderness, the city council will not hire a recruitment firm but instead will search for a police chief on their own.
Holderness said he plans to have a working retirement and hopes to continue teaching criminal justice at Southern Oregon University.
Ashland hiring concerns
As the City of Ashland gets ready to look for a new police chief, there is concern from one former city councilor over the city’s hiring practices.
Eric Navickas said more minorities and women need to hold positions in upper-tier city management and hiring practices need to change.
“I think the proof is in who’s actually hired and the fact is they have no women or minorities in their senior managerial staff,” said Navickas.
A statement from Ashland Mayor John Stromberg said:
“Yes, it’s true all the senior management team are white males. However the City of Ashland does have an affirmative action policy and we follow it and we believe in it,” said Stromberg over the phone.
Stromberg said the city frequently uses hiring recruiters and they make a special effort to seek out women and minorities for those jobs.
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