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In the decision between three finalists for Grand Coulee police chief, Mayor Mike Eylar has chosen option D: None of the Above.

“I’m not offering the position to any of the three that I interviewed,” Eylar said in a phone call Tuesday. “I’ll tell you exactly what I told them: I don’t doubt the heart and the desire and willingness to do the job, whatsoever. It’s just that we’re in what I think is kind of a critical stage, where I need somebody that has the knowledge, skill and abilities that the job requires, in order for us to be able to be an effective force.” 

The three candidates were Levi Johnson, a Grand Coulee police officer; Patrick Canady, of the Ephrata Police Department; and Don Redfield of the Colville Tribal Police and an Electric City council member.

The position will be re-advertised, Eylar said, but his immediate next step is to select a member of the Grand Coulee Police Department to serve an interim team supervisor role, since retiring Chief John Tufts has already worked his last day.

Eylar will meet with the department’s Teamsters Union representative later this week to determine the exact job title, but “this person will be the de facto leader of the crew until such time that a chief is appointed,” he said.

When asked to expand on the “critical stage” the city is in that warrants extending the search, Eylar said there are “interwoven issues.”

“Whoever is going to step into place will need to work with myself and, in all likelihood, probably leadership from both Electric City and Coulee Dam, in how we want to move forward,” Eylar said.

“Now under no circumstances do I want anybody to go, ‘Oh, they’re talking about combining departments.’ That isn’t the case,” Eylar said. “It’s just that what affects one has a tendency to affect all. And I just want that to be something that everybody keeps up in the front of their mind when we start making decisions.” 

The Grand Coulee Civil Service Commission interviewed the five initial candidates, forwarding the top three to Eylar for final interviews. After the mayor makes a hiring decision, it goes to the city council for a vote.