Post Falls could be open about police chief

A few emails and phone calls came to The Press last week with a tip: the leading candidate for the Post Falls police chief position was on administrative leave. 

That was news to us. A bit surprising, even, in light of the recent Lakeland School Board announcement that the superintendent had been placed on administrative leave and would be paid the remainder of his two-year contract. They were up-front about the administrative leave part, if not the reasons why. We like to think our government agencies are pretty transparent.

We decided to do what newspapers do: call the city of Post Falls and ask, "Has the interim police chief, or any candidates for police chief, been placed on administrative leave?" It's a yes or no answer.

We didn't get a yes or a no.

Deputy City Administrator Warren Wilson declined to comment. He told reporter Carolyn Bostick that the city can’t discuss personnel matters under public records laws.     

"I can’t confirm whether someone is on leave or not on leave and I can't confirm or deny the reasons they might be on leave," Wilson said. "We just don’t talk about those things until there’s a conclusion, if there’s a conclusion that can be reached."

So, there you go. 

Of course, we didn't ask for the reasons someone was on leave. We just asked if they were. 

Capt. Jason Mealer has been the interim police chief since longtime chief Greg McLean retired Oct. 18. The city said Mealer and Stu Miller, formerly of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, are the two final candidates.

We think the citizens of Post Falls have the right to know if there is an issue with the police chief position and who is running the department. It's one of the most important roles in the city. The police department is vital to public safety. It's one of those times we have to use one of those overused words: Transparency.

On Tuesday, we tried to find out who the acting police chief in Post Falls is. We could not. 

We don't know if anyone seeking the police chief job is on administrative leave, but not because we didn't ask.

We do know the City Council went into executive session March 17. What they discussed, however, we don't know. Personnel matters are often a reason to call an executive session.

“We had an executive session to talk about hiring and firing at the last meeting. I can’t talk about what was discussed there, but that conversation is going to be continued at the next meeting,” Wilson said. 

We'll be waiting and listening.