City of Bonners Ferry Chief of Police reposted at job service

The City of Bonners Ferry has re-posted the Bonners Ferry Chief of Police position to replace former Chief Rick Alonzo who retired in December.

The position is posted with Idaho Job Service and it will remain open until Feb. 17 at noon.

This after city council announced their intent to appoint Staff Sergeant Steve Benkula out of Twin Falls the chief of police position.

During a regular city council meeting Feb. 7, the former chief and now councilmen Alonzo brought up to council that Benkula did not meet the minimum requirements of the job listing.

The original listing required the person applying have at least three years experience as a lieutenant and Benkula is a Staff Sergeant. The decision on appointing Benkula to the chief position was tabled until Monday.

The listing went back on the Idaho Job Service site Friday, Feb. 10 and has been reworded to fit Benkula’s qualification status.

The listing states; this is an extension of a previous opening to modify/clarify the applicant requirements and provide an additional opportunity for interested individuals to apply under the new requirements. Applicants who previously applied for this position do no need to reapply.

The listing also changed the requirement regarding the need to have three years lieutenant experience.  It now states the applicant has to have at least three years supervisory experience in sworn law enforcement.

In the original job listing the wording was such that did not allow anyone with less than three years as a lieutenant to apply, however at least one applicant did qualify under the original listing.

Mayor Dave Anderson, Clerk/Treasurer Kris Larson and Council President Mike Klaus unanimously chose Staff Sergeant Ken Benkula from Twin Falls to fill the position.

Deputy Chief of Police Joel Minor, who has been with BFPD for 13 years, took on the role of acting Chief of Police on Dec. 31, Alonzo’s last day in the police department. He is also one of the four applicants for the chief position.

Anderson said all four applicants were very capable and credible and there were no specific job related reasons to not choose the current acting chief.

He did admit that Minor had more experience than Benkula but that was not a factor in the decision.

“His (Benkula’s) experience is a little less than Joel’s and they both had very good resumes,” said  Anderson. “There is no such thing as ascension in the city police department, it is not automatic (to be moved up in ranks).”

Anderson said the consensus was that Benkula was a better fit for what the city needs at the moment.

During the Monday special meeting the Mayor explained that under the requirements as written, that with the of hiring of Benkula, the city’s insurance company would not cover the city for liability because he did not meet the requirements as posted on the job listing.

Anderson was asked after the special meeting Monday night what he meant by Benkula was a better fit for what the city needs at the moment.

“We had a committee we went over resumes, chose four, we went through the interview process, we discussed, we slept on it, then discussed again, then we individually opened it up and discussed and came up with a unanimous decision,” said Anderson.

Anderson said the job is reopened people can come in with resumes and the process the city follows after that is unknown.

“It is unknown whether we interview again or not, that will be up to us,” Anderson said.

The motion was withdrawn to hire Benkula by councilman Mike Klaus and second by Connie Wells.

Council will hold another special meeting on the issue of hiring a police chief for the next regular city council meeting to be held on at 7 p.m., Tuesday. Feb. 21.

The Herald confirmed with Anderson that the chief position had been reopened at the job service with modifications. He confirmed that if any new applicants apply they could be interviewed after review of their application, and the process can start all over, but it is not guaranteed.

Anyone meeting requirements can apply at the Idaho Job Service.