Sheriff names finalists for Valley police chief job

Spokane Valley is getting ready to select a new police chief from among three candidates chosen by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

Spokane Valley police Chief Rick VanLeuven announced his retirement earlier this year, and his last day is June 30.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office provides police services to Spokane Valley under contract.

According to city code and that contract, the Spokane Valley city manager is supposed to appoint a new police chief from among the candidates chosen by the sheriff.

But in the aftermath of City Manager Mike Jackson’s ouster, acting City Manager Mark Calhoun said he decided to seek input from other city department heads and a group of community leaders.

“I put together two interview teams that will take turns interviewing the candidates,” Calhoun said. “It just makes sense that the city manager would seek input from stakeholders.”

The interviews take place in the afternoon on June 8, and the teams will share their input with Calhoun.

Knezovich said he picked the three candidates because they are the three best leaders in the Sheriff’s Office.

“They are different people but each and every one of them has been very successful,” Knezovich said. “It comes down to which leadership style Spokane Valley prefers.”

The candidates are:

Investigations Cmdr. Capt. John Nowels, who’s been with the Sheriff’s Office for more than 17 years. He’s the overall supervisor of the major crimes, sexual assault, property crimes, drug crimes and forensics units. And he’s the commander of the multijurisdictional Spokane Regional Safe Streets Task Force.

Patrol Cmdr. Capt. Mark Werner, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 1994. He has served as patrol deputy, field training officer, SWAT team member and a narcotics detective.

Intelligence Cmdr. Capt. Dave Ellis, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2002, after serving with the Post Falls Police Department since 1998. Highlights from his career include stints as a patrol deputy, regional training coordinator, tactical flight officer and supervisor of the air support unit.

Calhoun said using the team interview method is similar to how the city interviews for other department head positions.

The stakeholder interview team includes:

Mayor Rod Higgins, Councilman Bill Gothmann, Spokane Valley Fire Department Chief Bryan Collins, Central Valley School District Superintendent Ben Small, Spokane Valley Human Resources Manager John Whitehead and Calhoun.

The city department head interview team includes:

City Attorney Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Erik Lamb, Finance Director Chelsie Taylor, Deputy Clerk Carrie Koudelka, Community Development Director John Hohman, Parks and Recreation Director Mike Stone, Public Works Director Erik Guth and Senior Administrative Analyst Morgan Koudelka.

Calhoun didn’t want to set a date for the announcement of the new police chief.

“I’m going to ruminate on the teams’ input, but not linger on this decision,” Calhoun said. “We will have a new police chief well in advance of Chief VanLeuven’s retirement.”