Flathead County officials expect to soon begin culling the 23 applications they received for the county emergency services director position.

Applications for the job were due July 3, county Administrator Mike Pence said.

The director would replace Scott Sampey, who left in March. Cal Beringer, a patrol commander with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, has been interim director since Sampey left.

Now that the application period has closed, Pence said a selection committee will be established to review the applications and begin narrowing the field of candidates.

The selection committee will winnow the list down to candidates who will be interviewed by phone, then to a list of finalists for in-person interviews. Pence expects the interview and vetting processes to take a few months.

The process of filling the vacancy moved slowly, Pence said, in part because county leaders and members of the Flathead County Emergency Communications Center Board wanted better clarification about who oversees the director.

The communications center board includes representatives of the four government entities that fund the joint center through interlocal agreements — Flathead County and the cities of Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls. The 911 center encompasses the dispatch center, information technology department, geographic information systems and radio communications.

The emergency services director oversees several county departments as well, none of which are funded through the interlocal agreement, including the fire service area, emergency medical services and the emergency management department. The county pays the full costs of those departments.

Half of the pay of the emergency services director is paid by the county. The other half of the salary, which for the new hire is expected to be around $70,000, is paid in accord with the interlocal agreement, which uses population as the basis to split operating costs.

That breaks down to the county paying 66 percent of the second half of the director’s salary, Kalispell 22 percent, Whitefish 7 percent and Columbia Falls  5 percent. Those percentages carry across for all other funding for the consolidated parts of the operation.

Prior to the June 2010 opening of the 911 center, all four governments operated independent dispatch centers.

Because of the overlapping responsibilities of the OES director, Flathead County commissioners oversee that person’s work performance, Pence said. In addition to reporting to the county commissioners, the director receives guidance from and provides services to the Flathead County Emergency Communications Center Board, according to the current job description.

Sheriff Chuck Curry, a member of the communications center board, said the job description for Sampey “was very confusing as to how many boards he reported to.” That became an issue and a concern, Curry said.

“’Who do you answer to? Who is responsible?’ needed to be answered,” Curry said.

“I understand the county commissioners wanting hiring and firing authority, but we don’t want four bosses up there either,” Curry said of the OES office.

It’s not appropriate to set up a situation where a power struggle can surface, the sheriff said.

Mike Shepard, another member of the communications center board, agreed with Curry.

“We should have one overall boss because the system is combined services under one building with shared resources,” Shepard said.

General qualifications for the new director include having a bachelor’s degree in public administration or management or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience, which includes a minimum of five years of supervisory or administrative experience in emergency services with a degree or 10 years without a degree.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.