FORKS — Mayor Bryon Monohon selected six finalists for the Forks police chief position Sunday.

They include:

• Scott Bennett, retired sergeant for the Rockwood Police Department, Rockwood, Mich.

• Acting Chief Lloyd Lee of the Forks Police Department.

• Sgt. Richard Mann, Spring Hill Police Department, Spring Hill, Kan.

• Trooper James Paine, Utah Highway Patrol, Kaysville, Utah.

• Deputy Rick Pitt, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Moses Lake.

• Doug Price, retired Washington State Patrol detective sergeant, Port Angeles.

The six men were selected out of a pool of 13 applicants.

All six will be asked to be in Forks for interviews with Monohon, the Civil Service Commission, the City Council and the public.

“I’m really looking forward for the community getting to meet these applicants,” Monohon said.

“Interview dates haven’t been firmed up yet, but I would expect them to be in early November.”

Public has a say

Because Forks has a “strong mayor” form of government, Monohon has hiring and firing authority, but he said he will be taking input from the City Council and public.

“Public input will weigh heavily in the final selection,” he said.

He said he hopes to have all six finalists in Forks at the same time to most fairly compare them, but he said he hasn’t yet set up the dates for the interviews.

“It will be a fairly public process,” he said.

Monohon said he was surprised more people didn’t apply.

“I figured we would have at least 15 more resumes — but it is a different economic climate,” he said.

He said that even though not all of the finalists are from the area, they all have a reason to want to live here — though he declined to say why on each.

“It is safe to say they have one reason or another why they want to come and live here,” he said.

“That reason figured pretty carefully throughout the list.”

When he took office at the beginning of the year, Monohon fired Police Chief Mike Powell to bring “new leadership to the Forks Police Department.”

Lee has filled the position since.

The salary range for the new police chief is $51,000 to $72,000.

The salary for Powell, who had been chief for 10 years, had reached $77,000.

__________

Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.