The City of Estevan is continuing to work to replace two of the most important positions in its senior management team.
Not only are they on the lookout for a new city manager after the recent dismissal of Jim Puffalt, the City is also looking for a new police chief.
Current Chief Del Block made it known earlier this year that he planned to retire in 2014, and the search for his replacement began in earnest earlier this month.
Deputy Mayor Greg Hoffort said they have hired a head hunting firm to help them land a new city manager and a Canada-wide search is underway.
"We are anxiously awaiting the outcomes of that," said Hoffort. "I expect it will be at least a month before the bulk of the search gets concluded and we can finally start reviewing shortlists and getting to that."
Hoffort was asked if the City has reached a financial settlement with Puffalt, and he said the matter is under discussion and there would be no further comment at this point.
The search for a new police chief is already drawing significant interest. Councillor Kevin Smith, who is chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners, said Monday there have already been nine applications for the job. Smith added the City will accept applications until mid-November and then begin going through the list.
"We are pretty pleased with what we have seen so far," Smith said. "We are going to let it run its course and see what comes forward."
Asked what type of person and qualifications the police board is seeking, Smith said they would like to find another community leader with a focus on community policing.
"We've really gotten some momentum in the last five years and we want to continue that," he said. "We need a good strong administrator, a person that is really proactive with the police force."
Block was selected as chief after a lengthy career on the force. He was also the first local officer to be named to the position in a number of years. Smith was asked if the board might consider staying local with their next chief and said though none of the current officers had applied yet, their potential applications would be given full consideration.
"Everybody will be considered seriously. Our supervisors, our sergeants, are very qualified people in tutoring our officers. We are really excited because we've got a young, aggressive police force that are doing their jobs."
