City Council members decided at the Monday, January 18, meeting to narrow the search for a new St. Ignace police chief from the nine candidates interviewed to four finalists, and will review interview notes and application materials.

The four earning top ranking are East Jordan Police Chief Daniel Reece, Gaylord Police Chief Joseph Fitzgerald, St. Ignace Sergeant Mark Wilk, and former Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Police Chief Fred Paquin of St. Ignace.

The discussion was opened by Mayor Paul Grondin, who asked Council members how they wanted to proceed in the process to hire a police chief.

Council members Paul Fullerton and Tom Della-Moretta responded that they felt confident enough to nominate one of the candidates, Mr. Paquin, to be hired now for the position, but further discussion revealed that others on the Council felt they should take more time to consider the top candidates.

"There were four interviews that stood out," Mayor Grondin said. "I was not necessarily looking to make a decision tonight."

Council members Merv Wyse and Don Gustafson also said they felt going from nine candidates to one without taking more time to consider might be hasty.

"I'm surprised we would go from nine to one in a jump like that," Mr. Gustafson said of the nomination.

After Mr. Fullerton and Mr. Della-Moretta agreed to take the motion to nominate a single candidate off the table, Council member Jim Clapperton suggested Council consider the four stand-out candidates, weigh the pros and cons of each, and discuss the matter at the next Council meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday, February 1.

Council unanimously approved the decision to narrow the field to four and reconvene to discuss the candidates in February. Council decided that there would be no second interviews for the four candidates, since they believe the original interviews were appropriately thorough.

City Manager Eric Dodson said the two external candidates, Mr. Reece and Mr. Fitzgerald, both came back with stellar references and he also said Mr. Paquin and Mr. Wilk are well-known and wellrespected in the St. Ignace community. Waiting until February to appoint the next chief will not be a problem, Mr. Dodson said, since Mr. Wilk has been doing a good job as the acting police chief.