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David Blue
In a unanimous vote, the Hayden Town Council voted to hire David Blue as the police chief of Hayden. Should he accept the position he would serve the town of Hayden and then potentially work as the police chief for the combined police services of Kearny, Hayden, Winkelman and Mammoth. At press time it was not confirmed if Blue had accepted the position or when each community will hold a vote on the consortium.
In their motion, the Hayden Council stated that even if the consortium was not approved by the other communities they would still like him to be the chief for Hayden. The Town of Kearny did not have the item on their agenda. Should Blue not accept the position, Hayden will re advertise the position.
Originally there were nine candidates for the position; five were interviewed and the top three candidates moved on through the hiring process of background checks. Two made it through that process and, of those two, Blue was the only candidate passing the required background checks.
The consortium was an idea presented by David Blue when he served as interim chief for all three of the communities over the course of the past two years. The declining population of the region and lack of revenue growth has created an opportunity to think outside of the box to provide public safety services for the area. The consortium, if approved by the town councils of Kearny, Winkelman, and Mammoth, would hire one chief to run the departments and have a sergeant in each community along with officers. The end result of the consortium would increase policing capacity and allow for funds in the region to not be duplicated when hiring a police chief or other services.
This is the first time a consortium like this has been developed in Arizona. The Central Arizona Governments has helped to facilitate the process and discussions through the five mayors’ meetings that are held monthly and the Mayors discuss ways the communities can collaborate and work together.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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