A meeting of the Prescott Police Commission took place on Thursday, May 17th with 4 of the five commissioners , absent President Bill Pryor, beginning the meeting in addition to City Administrator Jayne Brand. Also in the audience were 2 council members, Maureen Otwell and Dar Hintz who asked acting President Bill Fetzner to be allowed to sit in on the closed session. Fetzner stated that he believed the request to be in conflict of administrative powers. City Administrator Brand said the decision was up to the Commission. A voice vote agreed to allow the councilmembers to sit in on part of the closed session, but that some discussion would not take place until Otwell and Hintz departed. The closed session began at 6:37. The council members left the closed session after approximately 25 minutes with the closed session then continuing for another quarter of an hour.
When the session reconvened into open session the only statements made were a first and second to act upon the items discussed in closed session. The meeting was then adjourned. We then asked acting president Bill Fetzner if the presence of the council members did constitute a blurring of the duties between commission and administration. He declined to agree, saying only that any member of the public would have the same opportunity. When pressed on the topic of providing access to the council members, Fetzner stated that the two were allowed only to voice their position on the agenda topic and then removed from the discussion portion of the meeting.
We also asked if the number of candidates had changed or if the commission had wittled the number down to finalists. Commissioner Johnson said that had not happened but that the decision process was advancing and that the commisison was trying to get all the information together to make the best decision. The names of the candidates were again requested with Fetzner declaring that information would not be revealed yet. The city website states that the commission is an autonomous body of 5 city residents who are appointed by the mayor. Commissioners serve 5 year terms, may be reappointed and are not compensated for their time.
