Councilwoman KerriT (RE: Look within for next police chief): In Post Falls we've been fortunate to replace longtime Chief of Police Cliff Hayes in house with Chief Scot Haug and just a year ago, our longtime finance director Shelly Enderud was chosen to replace Eric Keck as City Administrator. With both of those in house promotions we knew that no search would have produced candidates more qualified or prepared to step into those important positions. I believe whenever possible promoting from within speaks to the value placed on employees who dedicate themselves to the job and the organization. The reality that thousands of dollars and considerable time was saved by not going through a search outside the city was just a bonus, not a policy.

Question: Post Falls has had a solid leadership in staff positions for quite some time. Is this another good argument for looking within when it comes to filling city department head positions? When should you look outside a department?