NEWPORT BEACH : More Than 50 Apply for Police Chief Job

More than 50 people have applied to head this city’s beleaguered Police Department, which is struggling to recover from a sexual harassment scandal and whose employees have been working without a contract for nearly a year.

All but a handful of the 52 resumes that the Sacramento-based search firm Ralph Andersen & Associates received were from California police officials, city Personnel Director Duane Munson said Monday. None of the applicants work in the department.

Arb Campbell, the city’s fifth police chief, was fired in December after a three-month city investigation found evidence of sexual harassment and hostility at the department. Campbell and Capt. Anthony Villa--who was fired last month--are also accused of sexual harassment and rape in a lawsuit filed by 10 current and former female police employees.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the city and its police employees have nearly reached a stalemate over salary issues. Police managers have filed claims for more than $1 million in back pay for overtime they say should have been compensated, and officers have threatened a job action if they do not receive a pay raise.

City officials have said that they will seek a new police chief who is sensitive to issues of sexual and racial discrimination and is open to the media and the public. In its brochure advertising the position, the search firm said the city wanted “a high-energy individual with excellent management skills,” and named police professionalism, community relations, affirmative action and communication as high priorities for the future.

The salary for the next chief will range between $84,000 and $103,000.

Ralph Andersen & Associates will conduct an initial round of interviews and reference checks, whittling the applicant pool to about a dozen by the end of the month, Munson said. Those candidates will take oral and written examinations, undergo psychological testing, and appear before the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Three or four finalists will then be interviewed by City Manager Kevin J. Murphy, who expects to make the final selection in June.