With the upcoming retirement of Edmonds Police Chief Michelle Bennett, Mayor Mike Rosen is inviting community members to share their priorities for selecting a new chief.
This information will be helpful in the recruitment process and may result in changes to the job description, a press release regarding the survey said. Along with this survey to the public, police staff and city council will also be surveyed for their priorities.
“Choosing the right police chief for Edmonds is a critical decision that will impact the safety, well-being and trust of the community for years to come,” Rosen said. “The police chief sets the tone for law enforcement operations, shaping the department’s culture, policies and approach to community policing. The right police chief must have experience and integrity but also the ability to adapt to evolving challenges facing our community.”
This survey can be accessed online and is available in three languages.
English: www.surveymonkey.com/r/EPCCommunitySurvey
Vietnamese: Để thực hiện khảo sát bằng tiếng Việt, bấm vào đây www.surveymonkey.com/r/EPCCommunityVietnamese
Spanish: Para realizar la encuesta en español haga clic aquí www.surveymonkey.com/r/EPCCommunitySpanish
This survey will close on Friday, Jan. 17. In addition to the survey, the mayor also plans to create both a review panel and an interview panel as part of the selection process.
Thank you, Mayor Rosen. Happy New Year.
A good thing to do, but why wasn’t it commenced months ago?
I just want someone who will work for a reasonable salary and isn’t coming out of retirement for a deal too good to pass up. That seems to be a pattern here lately. I also hope dedicated and hardworking already on board staff are given a reasonable chance to get the job, considering the financial pickle we are in, as well as a point of fairness to dedicated and hardworking people working for us now. I’ll generally pass on the unscientific based social media oriented Survey Monkey process, but I looked at this one and it is opened ended with essay type answers, so probably a good way for some citizen input in this case. It will give the Mayor some insight into where average citizens are coming from on this all important appointment.
hope to ge t someone like Al Compaan, previous Chief now retired. Can you get him involved in selection??
So confused. I thought the Mayor was looking to contract policing with the Sheriff’s department?
I don’t believe the Mayor will take the survey responses seriously. The Mayor is green lighting significant tax increases on residents. Mayor’s 24′ community survey, no. 1 issue ‘hosing affordability’ (see link below), this is NOT affordable housing, but keeping residents in their home; housing residents’ children and grand children & anyone looking to buy a home with reasonable income can afford. Not housing only doctors, attorneys & executives can afford.
EPD Chief should be a promotion within the department, 100%. No outsiders please.
https://www.edmondswa.gov/government/city_budget/community_survey
I agree with you 100% Nick; so many confusing messages and I don’t trust Mayor Rosen to not turn right around and contract the police department out making the survey a waste of time.
As an Edmonds resident, I’m scared to death that we’ll lose our police department. We need someone who will keep them in town and keep the bad out
I’d rather see someone like Jim Lawless who was once under consideration for the job and is now an assistant chief in Marysville. He was treated rather unprofessionally in the last hiring process and should be given some consideration again, if he shows an interest in the job. Ideally, it would be good if we could hire someone at a more reasonable starting pay from our own ranks and perhaps free up some funds for boots on the ground vs. over the top pay for command staff. Frankly, I don’t understand how we can really afford a chief who makes in the $300,000 range plus benefits when our Mayor makes around $150,000 and at least 50% of the citizens make well under $100,000 and are just trying to keep affording to live here. Gross overpayment of upper management in the private sector has led to gross overpayment in the public sector to get or retain talent and the tax burden of all this is becoming unsustainable.
I took the survey. My 3 priorities under 50 words were 1. CRIME 2. CRIME 3.CRIME. That’s it. Period.
EPD is doing a good job. Crime is down year over year. 22′ to 23′, down 15.8%. You can take a look at the numbers, both SnoCo 911 & EPD reports.
https://sno911.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sno911-AnnualReport-2023-2024.pdf
https://www.edmondswa.gov/government/departments/police_department/department_info/edmonds_police_annual_reports_
I would love to see our former Chief of Police (COP), Al Compann, in the hiring process of our next COP. We lost a gem when he retired. He always kept a sharp pencil to his budget and Edmonds was safe and protected. He retired at $176,000/yr and a Police Department Budget of $11 million. Edmonds population is 42,800 – our COP earns just under $300,000/yr plus a golden benefit package and a department budget of $20 million. Seattle’s population is 755,078 – their COP earns $347,944. Snohomish County population is 849,070 and contracts with Snohomish Sheriff’s Office a $184,219/yr. Edmonds residents are being totally taken advantage of. Officer Morris, EPD Union Rep, stated recently that his organization is willing to cut their budget by $550,000. When the EPD budget has increased by $9 million in three years, $550,000 is nothing in cuts. We’ve got to get serious. I think the majority of Edmonds would like to keep it’s own EPD. But we can’t be driven to bankruptcy supporting it. Morris also stated that the EPD is looking to “go back to basics”. I hope they are serious. With Edmonds looking at insolvency by 2027, there won’t be any money left to pay our EPD and for certain the exploitive salaries of the Regional Fire Authority the mayor and council are pushing us towards.
Former Chief of Police Al Compann would be the perfect man to assist in the restructuring and reorganization of our EPD. Mayor Rosen and Council would show true leadership and fiduciary to call on Former COP Compann to assist in hiring our new COP. It is common sense that very position within the PD would be looked at. Possibly the number of commissioned and non-commissioned staff with the PD administration would be cut, with a resulting flattened command structure. And at the same time salaries would be evaluated and adjusted. Hopefully, the Mayor and Council would look at this same exercise within all city departments, looking especially at those positions that have been added in the last three budget cycles. Mayor Nelson added 50 new positions before he left office. Mayor Rosen knows he must cut these positions but refuses. He and council (except Dotsch) say it would be “heartless” to cut these positions. Yet, I haven’t heard any of them say it is “heartless” to raise taxes on already overburdened and overtaxed residents. Bankruptcy for them somehow isn’t “heartless”. When Mayor Rosen declared a fiscal emergency and then turned around and gave our COP a raise to $296,000/yr and automatically gave all City employees a COLA increase based on the full CPI – was he thinking of Edmonds pending Insolvency.
I appreciate an elected government that explores all options and restrains from any early determinations or commitments when problem solving. I also appreciate it when they seek more information than they manufacture, when they deliberate the variables thoroughly, when they acquire public opinion with open and unbiased prompts. I filled out the survey and felt challenged that I had to produce answers, vs checking pre-textual boxes.
With the exception of some potential campaign support/politicking conflicts, I’m relieved to see overall improved competence @ city hall.
Nelson and some of his predecessors set the bar pretty low for Mayor Rosen, which is a big part of why we are slowly going insolvent without massive tax hikes now. Fifteen or so years ago when our own fire service was under funded was when the then Mayor and Council should have gone to the electorate with the truth of the situation and asked for a tax levy then. This was politically unacceptable to the powers that were. Instead, in Edmonds usual kick the can style, they bought into the idea that they could save millions by contracting out to the “more efficient” regional district and for some time they did save money with low ball contracts but in the end it was more like a reverse mortgage where the town ends up slowly giving up it’s asset to to the SCF “bank.” Unlike fire, regional policing, has shown some true economy of scale which is why Shoreline gets much cheaper policing than Edmonds. As Theresa points out, paying our COP $300,000/yr. when you include benefits is outrageous (double what we pay our Mayor who is his/her boss).
Crime is my #1 concern. If Edmonds loses its police department, crime will increase. Money was wasted on buying the motel on Hwy 99, which is a fentdnyl Hell hole and unusable; there’s a paid guard on site 24/7. We need a mayor and financial specialist who would spend our money more wisely. I’m terrified of losing our police department.
Just to clarify that the City of Edmonds has not purchased a motel on Hwy 99. Snohomish County purchased the former America’s Best Inn for use as transitional housing but that hasn’t opened yet.
And it may never open due to fentanyl toxicity inside. I read that residents will still be able to do their drugs, etc. The motel is just to get these losers off the streets. Lynnwood is infested with these people. Take a look any time of the day or night.
We need a police chief to keep the department up and running in Edmonds. Without a police department, crime and filth will run rampant in Edmonds
Thank you for the opportunity to voice our opinions. The government’s responsibility is to protect its citizens, enforce laws, and to provide a safe environment for the benefit of all citizens. It is not to promote a woke agenda, DEI, any other doctrine. Edmonds needs the best law enforcement officer that our budget allows, one who will enforce our laws, protect the property of its residents, and investigate crimes. The current city government spends money on feel good projects that protects no one. A prime example is the wasted dollars on signage for the Art District, as well as the city’s do nothing commission. Let us NOT become “Seattle North” where crime is rampant and city government turns a blind eye.