NORTHFIELD — The Selectboard will interview two finalists for the police chief’s position on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
The agenda for Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting includes back-to-back interviews with the final two candidates and a potential vote on selection. The final candidates are Leverett Police Chief Scott Minckler — whose department also provides services to Wendell — and University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Lt. Jonathan Hall, who will be interviewed at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
Speaking during a meeting this week, Chair Heath Cummings, who was also a member of the Police Chief Screening Committee, spoke to the lasting interview process. The committee finished preliminary interviews last week and narrowed the finalists to two.
“We had a very lengthy process done by our consulting firm,” Cummings said. “It came down to four finalists. We ended up having one drop out right in the middle of our scheduled interviews, but we had three fantastic interviews.”
He continued, saying both candidates coming before the Selectboard are well qualified and that “it’s literally going to be like splitting hairs” when making a selection.
“That’s a great position for us to be in,” Cummings said.
The search for a new chief began following former Chief Robert Leighton’s retirement on July 8. The Selectboard appointed Sgt. Alexander Pirozhkov, who said he had applied for the full-time position, as acting police chief until the hiring process is complete.
In July, the Selectboard hired consulting group Municipal Resources Inc. for roughly $12,200 to help conduct the search for applicants who were brought before the Police Chief Screening Committee, with the committee ultimately narrowing the field to Minckler and Hall.
“The people that we have lined up to bring in front of the board,” Cummings said, “I don’t think we could have narrowed this down to two other people that are so well fit for this town, personality wise and qualification wise.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.