By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – A process that’s typically conducted behind closed doors became public this week.
In the national search for Bloomington’s next police chief, city staffers acknowledged they accidentally kept a high-ranking Illinois State Police trooper off the applicants’ list.
City staffers admitted the mistake after State Police Lt. Col. David Byrd addressed the city council during the public comments portion of Monday night’s council meeting.
“I know my worth, and for me not to get the opportunity to interview for the chief of police vacancy in the City of Bloomington is a complete travesty,” said Byrd.
Byrd said he has been with the State Police for 30 years. He is now Assistant Deputy Director, and said he was recently a finalist for the police chief’s job in Evanston.
According to Byrd, he submitted his application June 20, and received confirmation that the city received it July 7, which was the application deadline. Eight days later, Byrd said he found out he didn’t make it to the review process.
Byrd claimed City Manager Tim Gleason told him that he might be considered for the chief’s job if the selection committee did not approve of the eight selected applications.
“I took it as a condescending comment, and I did not appreciate being patronized after knowing that HR made a mistake and was not willing to correct it,” Byrd said.
Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus, who’s on the selection committee, issued a statement saying staffers accidentally excluded Byrd from the applicants’ list, but the omission does not place Byrd at any disadvantage in the ongoing process.
“Preliminary interviews have been conducted by the selection committee. At this time, every individual that applied remains an active candidate,” said Tyus.
“The city is confident in the integrity of the hiring process,” Tyus also said.
Tyus is serving as Acting City Manager while Gleason is out of town.
The city’s Human Resources Director Nicole Albertson declined comment on the situation.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
