City officials consider 5 top applicants for police chief

By Cindy Jo Ayers

The Trenton City Commissioners met on March 22 to narrow the pool of applicants for the Trenton police chief position to five applicants.
Each commissioner, including Commissioner Marcia Hellams who was unable to attend the meeting due to health issues, turned in a list of their top five applicants for the position. The selection was made from a list of 16 finalists for the position.
It was decided that if any single applicant received three or more votes, then they would be called in for an interview.
After Administrative Assistant Robin Heath and City Attorney David M. Lang, Jr. tallied the votes, those receiving five votes each were Scott Finnen, Andrew B. Johnson, and Robert R. Webb.
William Sampson received four votes, while James V. Raven received three votes.
The commissioners also discussed what questions should be asked when the in-person interviews are held on the evening of April 12, 2011.
During the meeting it was decided that each of the five men being interviewed for the position would be interviewed for 20 minutes, leaving 10 minutes between each applicant. The interviews will be open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Commissioner Randy Rutter expressed his desire to have the new chief live in the city, so that they might become a part of the local community.
It was not decided if the new chief would only be hired if he agreed to live in the city limits of Trenton or not. But it was revealed that the Trenton Police Handbook calls for the chief to reside within the city even though the rule has been neglected over the last several years.
The annual salary range for the position of Trenton Police Chief is from $35,428 to $42,640.
The city is also looking for a new police officer to replace a member of the staff who is leaving. This position carries an annual salary of $29,640.
City Manager Taylor Brown told commissioners that he feels it would be beneficial to hire the new police chief first and then let the new chief take part in the selection of the new officer.
This position will remain open for some time, so anyone interested may contact city hall at 463-4000 for more information.