The Village of Genoa has succeeded in filling a vacant seat on council but the search for a new police chief has lost momentum.

For the second time this summer, the village has come up short in its search to replace former Police Chief Randy Hill. Hill, who had been placed on administrative leave for an undisclosed issue, then resigned without warning last November.

A search committee for village council had a new candidate in its sights in recent weeks but that person also has declined to proceed with the hiring process.

“We were ready to make an offer and he turned us down,” Village Administrator Kevin Gladden said Wednesday morning. “That means we are back to ground zero. Basically, it’s in the mayor’s hands now as to where we go from here.”

The candidate was the top choice in a second round of applications from a pool of four applicants.

The first round began earlier this spring, when more than one dozen people applied for the top cop position in the western Ottawa County village.

After weeks of interviews, the slate had narrowed to one – Mike McGee, a Toledo area police command officer.

But before the offer was solidified, McGee withdrew his application. He told an area newspaper that he felt others were trying to manipulate the situation and decided to opt out of the running.

Gladden could offer no reasons for the recent candidate’s decision either.

He also noted the selection for the chief in the second round didn’t offer as many options.  “Some of the people who had applied before didn’t apply the second time,” he said.

The Genoa administration’s concentration now is on finding a couple of part-time officers to help fill the police department daily schedule.

“But those applications have been slow to come in also,” Gladden said.

Council appointee
A village native with a family history of public service has been appointed to the Genoa Village Council.

Council gave a unanimous nod last week to Brian Best to fill the recently vacated seat held by Eric Hise.

Gladden said Hise left unexpectedly last month citing mainly health reasons.

Best, a Genoa High School graduate, works at the Sun Oil Refinery, has no previous public service experience but had run once for office a couple of years ago.

“He had some interest and decided to go for it,” Gladden said about the council opening.

About a half dozen people had submitted applications for the seat.

Best is part of a family that has put forth time and effort toward public service.

His father served as an assistant fire department chief and his grandfather was a longtime member of the tree commission, Gladden said.

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