Former Sequim Police Chief Bob Spinks said he liked what he saw Thursday and Friday in Columbus, Miss., where he was interviewed Thursday as one of three finalists for the top cop’s position there.
The Columbus City Council is expected to make a decision early this week.
Spinks said by email Friday that he was sight-seeing around Columbus after the Thursday interview.
“Had a great experience meeting people and thought my interview went very well,” said Spinks, who lives in Sequim.
“Folks have been extremely friendly, and the community is rich in history, has a vibrant, growing economy and a well-staffed and professional Police Department.”
He said the mayor and City Council “were very engaged and asked penetrating questions.
“I thought we had a good interactive exchange of ideas and expectations.”
‘Mutual evaluation’
Spinks said he was “not really worried about landing the job,” adding that “right now, it’s just a period of mutual evaluation.
“I’m not merely looking for a job,” he said. “I am looking for the right job.”
Besides Spinks, the finalists are Curtis Brame of North Chicago, Ill., and interim Columbus Police Chief Selvain McQueen.
City Manager Steve Burkett last year asked Spinks to resign, and Spinks did so, after Burkett concluded they lacked chemistry as far as management styles go.
Spinks, 52, who headed up the Sequim force for five years, acted as city manager before Burkett joined the city of Sequim in early 2010.
During the City Council interviews Thursday, as reported by The Dispatch in Columbus, Spinks said all three finalists know how to be a police officer, but he thinks he will be a better leader.
Spinks said he would come in and listen to the community.
“I think a lot of it is your leadership style, and I think that’s what I offer. Unlike anyone else, you don’t have to train me to be a police chief; I already know how to do that,” he was quoted as saying.
Spinks referred to himself throughout the interview as a coach and the Police Department as a football team, The Dispatch reported.
He told the council that he would plan to stay in Columbus for the remainder of his career, the newspaper said.
He also addressed reports from the Peninsula Daily News in which Burkett described Spinks as “bombastic.”
The term was brought up by a Columbus City Council member “and often, by Spinks,” The Dispatch reported.
“But he continued to refer to himself as ‘gregarious’ and ‘outgoing’ instead,” the article continued.
Teaches online classes
In Sequim, Spinks has been teaching online classes in victimology and criminology for Everest University and serves on the boards of the Sequim Senior Activity Center and Olympic Community Action Programs and is involved in the Sequim Senior Meals Program.
He is a part of the nonprofit KSQM-FM 91.5 radio management team, where he is an announcer, and writes a column for the weekly Sequim Gazette.
He previously worked as a trial court supervisor for the state of Oregon Judicial Department 19th Judicial District from 2004-2005, as the director of public safety for Bellevue College in Washington from 2002-2003, as an undersheriff in Benton County in 2001 and as police chief in Milton-Freewater, Ore., from 1997-2001.
Spinks earned a master’s degree in criminal justice in 2005 from the University of Cincinnati.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.