St. Helens is recruiting internally for its next chief of police. (Staff file photo)

As the city of St. Helens looks for a new chief to lead its police department after the resignation of former Chief Brian Greenway, the search has gotten broader.

At a March 19 meeting of the city council, Acting Chief Joe Hogue was appointed to serve as interim chief, and the opportunity to lead the department was opened for a 10-day period to internal candidates interested in applying.

Hogue is still serving as the head of the department for the time being but could potentially have competition for the position now that applications have been opened to other city employees. Candidates will be interviewed at a currently undetermined date, with the end goal of hiring an official chief of police.

Let’s rewind

Shortly after Greenway left the position in January, a damning report was released detailing the toxic culture he allegedly promoted within the department. Greenway had been on administrative leave since October, and Hogue — who was serving as a lieutenant at the time — stepped into the role of acting chief in Greenway’s absence, and has occupied that role for the last five months.

Nearly two months since Greenway’s resignation, the council began looking for its next official chief of police, with Hogue standing out as an obvious candidate. An acting chief was only meant to serve in the role on a short-term basis, and the position didn’t come with an official employment contract.

At the city council’s March 5 meeting, council members voted to appoint Hogue to the chief position on an interim basis for six months, the terms of which would be subject to a “mutually agreeable” employment contract.

The council heavily debated including a six-month evaluation period for Hogue in the contract, after which it would decide whether to officially hire him to serve as the chief of police. The contract would also include language allowing the city to permanently hire Hogue at any point during the six-month period.

Part of the trepidation came from Mayor Jennifer Massey’s concerns about the city’s current hiring and employee review processes that may have contributed to the police department’s struggles in the first place.

“I feel like we have a responsibility and a due diligence to the foundational flaws that have been identified, to correct those before we move forward,” Massey said at the March 5 meeting.

Other members of the council felt that the long evaluation period would be disrespectful to Hogue, who they felt had already demonstrated his competence in the months he’s served in the role.

“We’re asking him to wait so we can put our house in order?” Councilor Russell Hubbard said.

The council ultimately voted 4-0 to approve Hogue’s appointment and six-month evaluation period, subject to a contract agreed upon by both sides, with Councilor Jessica Chilton absent from the vote. Before voting, Massey declared a potential conflict of interest stemming from her husband’s employment with the police department.

Back to March 19

Two weeks later, the council changed course, appointing Hogue to the interim position but also opening a 10-day application window to internal candidates interested in serving as official chief of police.

“At the last council meeting, there was a motion to appoint Chief Hogue as the interim chief of police subject to a mutually agreeable employment contract, and in the discussions since that time, we were not able to come to an agreement,” City Attorney Ashley Wigod said.

The council voted 3-2 to approve the new plan, with Massey and Councilor Mark Gundersen voting against it.