Jones says he’s happy to step up and serve
Earlier this week the city of Susanville announced the appointment of Kevin Jones, the city’s police chief, as interim city administrator, temporarily succeeding Mike Wilson.
“It’s been an interesting two-and-one-half days,” Jones told the Times Wednesday afternoon. “The city had a need, and I’m willing to help. I have a little bit of experience. Over at the sheriff’s office we had five different divisions and 80 employees. There are some similarities, but it’s vastly different.”
Jones said the city has a number of candidates who have applied for the position, and the city already has begun the evaluation process.
“The city will move forward in the coming weeks,” Jones said.
The city will take a number of steps before hiring a new city administrator.
First, Jones said, the applicants will be vetted to see if they actually qualify for the job. Then the applicants will be ranked. Based on the ranking, the city will then decide which and how many applicants to interview.
The first interview will be a professional one with a panel developed by an ad hoc committee. Then the applicants will face a second interview by a board of selected community stakeholders.
Despite his additional duties as interim city administrator, Jones said he will still have oversight over the police department, although some changes may have to be made.
“I’m excited to look at this and help the city move forward,” Jones said of his new responsibilities. “I’m near the end of my career — I made my 31 year mark in May. I’m excited to have an interesting change of scenery at this time in my career. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, and my number one goal is going to be to re-engage with the community as we’ve done with the police department … We’re going to do our best to win back the community’s support.”
