Pismo starts search for next police chief

City Council votes to hire a recruiting firm that will suggest a successor for retiring Chief Cortez

Dawn White

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The search for Pismo Beach’s next police chief moved forward this week when the City Council approved spending $23,000 for the services of an executive recruitment agency.

The vote Tuesday to hire Roseville-based Bob Murray & Associates was 4-1, with Councilman Bill Rabenaldt casting the dissenting vote.

“It’s probably best to throw a wide net,” Rabenaldt said, “but I am very interested in promoting from within.”

Read a staff report about the city�s decision to spend $23,000 looking for a new police chief

Police Chief Joe Cortez announced in April that he will retire at the end of the year. He left Aspen, Colo., in 2001 to join the Pismo Beach Police Department after being recruited by a similar company.

City Manager Kevin Rice told the council that many of the city’s department heads had been brought in by national recruitment agencies and that hiring an agency did not mean someone from within the department could not get the job.

“Competition is a good thing,” Rice said, adding that a recruitment agency would be able to find the best candidates.

Bob Murray&Associates is also searching for a new pubic works director for Pismo Beach.

One resident told the council that he’d like to see the Police Department cut expenses by promoting a current commander to be chief and then not replacing the commander.

Rice responded that changes to the police budget would have to wait until the budget is evaluated in August.