The mayor has refused to release the names of the three finalists for police chief, but said she will hire a new chief by late June.
Running for the office of mayor in Holyoke in 2011 are, left to right, incumbent Elaine A. Pluta, Alex B. Morse, Daniel C. Boyle and Daniel C. Burns.HOLYOKE – The three candidates running against her criticized Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s refusal to release the names of the three finalists for police chief.
Alex B. Morse, Daniel C. Boyle and Daniel C. Burns also said it was a disservice to the public that the meetings of Pluta’s police chief search committee are held behind closed doors.
“I’ve always said the process needs to be as transparent as possible,” Morse, a job developer and career counselor at CareerPoint here, said June 10.
“And those names should be public. I would be the mayor who would have the process as open as possible,” Morse said.
Pluta and City Solicitor Lisa A. Ball said the city charter gives the mayor exclusive authority to appoint the police chief.
And under state law, Ball said, because the mayor is not a governmental body, the Open Meeting Law doesn’t apply to the mayor, the mayor’s appointment of the police chief or the search committee.
Boyle, a business consultant, said in an interview June 10 it was wrong for the mayor to deprive residents of the identities of the police chief candidates’ because certain legal interpretations say she can.
“This mayor just continues to conduct city business behind closed doors. This mayor has proven that she’s not interested in Holyoke knowing what’s going on,” Boyle said.
Pluta said last week that the police chief selection process was “in a state of flux” and that the three remaining candidates have yet to be designated the finalists.
The plan is put candidates through an evaluation known as an assessment center Saturday and after that, determine the finalists and make their names public, she said.
Pluta appointed the search committee in November.
Burns, a former city councilor, questioned why the process of finding a new chief is still dragging on since it was known for more than a year that former Police Chief Anthony R. Scott would be retiring April 30.
“The mayor is wrong. The citizens deserve better,” Burns wrote in an email Tuesday.
Scott had been chief since 2001. His yearly salary was $133,164.
Capt. Frederick J. Seklecki has been acting chief since Scott retired.
A preliminary election to narrow the field to two candidates is set for Sept. 20 and the general election is Nov. 8.