POLICE, FIRE CANDIDATES AT 8 EACH; NAMES OF APPLICANTS MAY BE RELEASED FRIDAY

Assessment teams searching for new Cape Girardeau police and fire chiefs have narrowed extensive lists to eight for each position, said Dan Ward, human-resources director.

In addition to the eight main candidates for each position are four alternate candidates for fire chief and six for police chief, he said.

The two separate teams, made up of city department heads, recently finished reviewing 75 applications for the police chief position and 65 for fire chief, Ward said. The applications were received after advertising nationally, he said.

"We're looking at some very impressive candidates," Ward said. "In both cases they had much more trouble eliminating candidates than they normally might."

The teams have been searching for replacements since early August when former chiefs Howard "Butch" Boyd and Robert Ridgeway announced they would resign to take other jobs. Ridgeway, the city fire chief, is now fire chief in Gastonia, N.C., and Boyd, the Cape Girardeau police chief, is director of security at Southeast Missouri Hospital here.

Police Capt. Steve Strong and Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch are filling in until replacements are found. They both have applied for the respective jobs.

Ward said he couldn't release the names of the finalists until after City Manager Michael Miller sees and approves the list. Miller is out of town for a conference until Thursday. Ward expects the list to be made public about Friday.

The next selection step is interviewing the candidates, which is scheduled for the end of November, said Ward. The candidates will undergo a day and a half of testing, which involves answering written questions, role-play and a series of situations, Ward said.

"Then the teams will look at how they did and rank them," Ward said. "Then they'll look at the best candidates and make a recommendation to the city manager."

The city manager will then make a final selection for both positions, Ward said. He said replacements should be place by Jan. 1.

Residency could be a problem for Strong, who lives in the county. While it is not a policy for Cape Girardeau police chiefs to live in the city, Miller believes that the police chief should live in the city limits.

Strong said that he built a home four years ago on land that has been in his family for over 100 years and moving would be out of the question. The land is in Cape Girardeau County.

Strong said he was informed that would not keep him off the list of candidates. He said he didn't know how his residency might effect his chances at getting the job.

"He (Miller) told me I could apply and he would consider me," Strong said.

"I don't think it would be an issue; it hasn't been before," Strong said. "There never has been a major incident that I have not been able to respond to."

"I was born here," Strong said. "I've lived here the majority of my life, inside the city limits," he said.

Strong has been on the police force for 20 years and has been second in command of the department behind the police chief since May 1989.