Madison could see finalists to fill the city’s first independent monitor position by the end of next week. And a decision on the final candidate could come as soon as this month.
That comes after the nascent civilian oversight board has struggled to land on a candidate in its first two years of existence.
The independent monitor is expected to work in tandem with the civilian oversight board to investigate complaints, recommend policy changes, and engage the community. Importantly, the monitor and the board have the ability to subpoena the Madison Police Department.
And according to a position description posted on the city’s website, the independent monitor could make between $104,000 and $141,000 a year. That top figure is almost as much as the Wisconsin Attorney General’s salary.
But landing on the right person has been more difficult than expected, and has thrown off a timeline that originally predicted a hire in October of last year.
Earlier this year, workplace allegations and licensing violations surrounded the board’s previous final pick for the position, Byron Bishop, the city’s civil rights administrator. Bishop later withdrew his candidacy. And the board restarted the hiring process.
Since then, the board established a taskforce to review and revise hiring materials for the position. Last Thursday, the Taskforce presented their selection process to the Board.
Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores is the chair of the Taskforce. As she explained, the selection panel will hear initial interviews from a subset of the candidates before choosing four finalists.
“So at that time, we will choose four finalists, and then those four finalists will proceed to our town hall webinar which will be on August 18. And those same four finalists will then progress to our full board meeting on August 25, where they will be interviewed by the full board. And then we will make a decision as to who our new IM will be,” said Kilfoy-Flores.
In a statement to WORT, Kilfoy-Flores confirmed that thirteen applicants remain in the running, and the board is slated to pick the four finalists by the end of next week.
According to the board’s timeline, recorded interviews with the top finalists and a town hall could come by mid-August and a final decision could come as soon as the end of the month. The town hall is currently planned for Thursday, August 18 from 5-8pm.
Image courtesy: WORT Flickr
