The Haines Borough is still without a Police Chief. Borough Manager Annette Kreitzer looks to hire internally before advertising for the position. She is currently drafting a contract to present to Interim Police Chief Josh Dryden. If the contract is successfully negotiated, Sergeant Dryden would need to be confirmed by the Assembly.
Haines Borough Manager Annette Kreitzer met with the Public Safety Advisory Board earlier this month to consult with the board about the hiring process of the next police chief.
Kreitzer said, “My belief is, let’s try to promote from within where we can. We did that at the library. I’ve done it at the tourism department now. And I think this is another area where we’ve invested already in training.”
Kreitzer provided the board with a list of desired qualities for the next police chief, broken down into five categories: personal, administrative, leadership, community engagement and law enforcement characteristics. She compiled the list based on conversations with police officers, dispatchers and assembly members.
The board unanimously agreed that Sergeant Dryden met those characteristics. Some board members said that they would like to see the list printed in the Chilkat Valley News, so the community could weigh in on personal and community-based interactions with Dryden. Borough code mandates that if Kreitzer advertises to fill the position, a newspaper ad must be published advising the public of the job opening, but this is not the case if she hires internally.
While Kreitzer has made it known that she prefers to hire internally for borough positions, she says that Sergeant Dryden is qualified. She said that when she consulted members of the police force, his name came up repeatedly as a preferred choice.
Kreitzer said, “I feel like it’s the right thing to do. I wouldn’t put Josh Dryden’s name forward if I didn’t think he was a good candidate, or a candidate that’s had enough training to be the officer. Because the worst thing that you can do is fill the position just to have a body there.”
The next step is to draft a contract for Dryden, who is currently serving as the Interim Police Chief. The position was left vacant this summer when Kreitzer was unable to negotiate a contract that satisfied former Police Chief Heath Scott’s financial expectations.
Kreitzer said, “The Borough Manager’s salary is really the top salary in the borough. Because essentially whatever happens, as has been demonstrated recently, whatever happens in the borough comes back to the Borough Manager. And so, for that reason, I have to negotiate salaries that are within that range. You know, my salary is 130,000, without overtime. Because certainly there are employees in the borough who, if they have overtime, could certainly end up making more than the borough manager. That happens in all government.”
If Sergeant Dryden were promoted to Police Chief, he would be moving from a union to a non-unionized position, leaving him ineligible for overtime compensation. Kreitzer told KHNS that in the pre-contractual talks, Dryden said one of his criteria would be to have a “return to position” clause written into his contract. Kreitzer said that would likely mean his position would remain vacant for a period of time after the transition, leaving the police with just three officers.
Dryden told KHNS that he is waiting on a contract from the manager. He said that his role as Interim Chief is going smoothly, which he attributes to being surrounded by great staff.
If Dryden and Kreitzer agree on a contract, the next step requires assembly approval. All department heads must be confirmed by the assembly.
