By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Williston City Council members rarely use aggressive comments toward each other in meetings, but the atmosphere was different on Tuesday when Mayor Jerry Robinson nominated Sgt. Mike J. Rolls for police chief.

            It was intense.

            Rolls was hired on a 3-2 vote of the council, but the political debate preceding the vote was unpleasant at times as Robinson defended his selection of Rolls and was heavily criticized for it.

            Council President Debra Jones and Mayor-Elect Charles Goodman made it known they were unhappy with the procedure used by Robinson that didn’t include a panel of residents helping interview the four police chief candidates.

            Jones said appointing a panel of residents to interview police chief candidates was a longstanding practice. She admitted it wasn’t written into the city charter, but it made sense to her, and she wanted Robinson to follow suit.

            The city council president and Goodman asked Robinson to postpone his nomination until a citizen panel could be appointed to help interview the four applicants, but Robinson said he followed an established procedure in the city charter and refused to bow to the pressure.

            Goodman and Jones acknowledged Robinson was within his legal rights under the charter to interview candidates for police chief on his own and bring Rolls’ nomination to the city council for a vote without help from a citizen panel, but they weren’t happy about it.

            City Attorney Scott Walker confirmed the charter confers authority on the mayor and the mayor alone to nominate the police chief. He said there are no other procedures mentioned in the city charter for choosing the police and fire chiefs. The mayor handles that chore.

            Neither Jones nor Goodman, both prominent Democrats in the community, indicated their criticism of Robinson, a Republican, was in any way politically motivated, insisting instead that they wanted a citizens’ panel involved in the selection of a police chief and a pause in the nomination process.

            Their suggestion would have placed Rolls nomination on ice until the other three candidates, including Assistant Chief Terry Bovaird, reserve officer Jeff Holcomb and Dave Johnson could be interviewed by the panel. Holcomb and Johnson don’t live in the city limits of Williston.

            City Councilwoman Darfeness Hinds agreed with Jones that the mayor should have used a panel to interview police chief candidates to avoid any appearance of impropriety, but she also agreed with Councilman Michael Cox who said it would be best to have the new chief on board before Chief Dennis Strow retires on April 22. If the new chief doesn’t interact with Strow and learn the ropes, she said he is being set up for failure.

            “We definitely have a tough choice if we table and have a panel of five people. From conversations I have had, even if he is the best choice, he would not be picked to be the best choice because biases have already been said,” Hinds said.

            “I just want to see their résumés for heaven’s sakes,” Jones responded.

            “I just feel at this point – I’m not saying what he (the mayor) did was right, but at this point, I don’t feel he (Rolls) will get a fair shot if he is elected to be the next chief,” Hinds said.

            She counseled Goodman that he would need to build a relationship with Rolls, talk to him, find out what he’s about, what direction he is going as chief, and whether he is really the best candidate for the city.

            “If he is not, you have a job to do, plain and simple,” Hinds said.

            Goodman responded that he couldn’t just fire Rolls without cause after he takes office as mayor. Goodman said his issue wasn’t with Rolls, it was the process used to nominate Rolls, not with Rolls himself. He said he was in the dark about the candidates interviewed by the mayor.

            Goodman said he disagreed with Hinds that Rolls wouldn’t get a fair shake if the nomination was put on hold, or that he might not wind up being the police chief at all.

            “I am not at all convinced that the candidate the mayor nominated won’t be the candidate. I refuse to accept that. I just believe the process needs to be better,” Goodman said.

            He added that he believes the recent city election sent a clear message that the voters want change. Goodman defeated Robinson by 95 votes.

            Prominent members of the black community were listening in the audience along with Rolls, as Jones and Goodman demanded Robinson walk back his nomination and allow a panel to get involved in the process of choosing a police chief. Several spoke out in defense of Rolls.

            Pastor Charles Streeter said he believes the city needs to choose a chief who can bridge the gap between east and west Williston. He said the people in East Williston should be able to get help right away when they call for a law enforcement officer. East Williston is outside the city limits.

            “They are needed right then. If we are in the county – which is kind of ridiculous how the city is constructed – I think that needs to be fixed too because when we need help; we need someone who is going to interact with both communities. I say that because it’s just one community,” Streeter said. “It never should have been divided. It’s divided by the way we think about where we live and where they live and I would hope tonight that there is no partiality or ill judgment because it is someone who is a darker color than you.”

            Jones denied there was any racial prejudice involved in what she was trying to accomplish. She said she was working for the betterment of the city.

            “Absolutely not. I love Mr. Rolls. I just want to make sure he’s the best candidate for the job. He is a community-minded person. I will say that all of the candidates live in the City of Williston. Mr. Johnson, you live just outside, right? The others all live here.”

            When retiring Chief Dennis Strow was asked if any of the candidates for chief live outside the city, he said reserve officer Jeff Holcomb and Johnson live outside the city limits.

            Ultimately it came down to a tie-breaking vote by Hinds who seemed torn between siding with Jones and Goodman to postpone a vote or hiring Rolls. She sat for what seemed an eternity agonizing over her decision and finally voted after 45 seconds to side with council members Marguerite Robinson and Michael Cox and hire Rolls.

            Gussie Boatright, a respected member of the East Williston community and in Williston itself, said she has met Rolls and he impressed her.

            “Change is necessary for growth sometimes and change is difficult to accept sometimes. I’ve lived here in Williston a long time. Actually, I don’t live in Williston. I spend a lot of time in City Manager Jackie Gorman’s office complaining and getting things done. Chief Strow and I have a great relationship. I have gotten to know, love, and respect Mike Rolls. You know why? He sought me out. He sought my church out. He sought my club out. He sought those people out who were important to me. The day my grandson died he was the first to find me. This man has compassion. He demonstrates tremendous support for this community. He engages in community events. He calls me to find out what I’m doing next so he can follow make to make sure I’m not doing anything wrong. He shows up to things. He participates. He demonstrates compassion and concern all the while providing excellent service. The man shows up,” she said. “I think he’s the best fit for now. Williston is growing and we’re looking for someone who can pull us together and I think Mike’s the person.”

            When asked why he chose Rolls, Robinson said one of the things that stood out about him was that he said he could be the chief for the next 15 years.

            “We don’t need a short-term chief,” Robinson said.

            Hinds asked Robinson what qualifications Rolls has that made him the best choice for chief?

            “After the interviews, I went out to business owners in the city and to individuals in the city and asked about all the applicants and his name came up far to exceed the other three, more than anyone else,” Robinson said.

            “So, you talked to the businesses and the people on the street but you won’t talk to us about it?” Jones shot back.

            Robinson said he was talking to the council at that moment, but he didn’t have his notes from the interviews in front of him.

            “Just what are your feelings?” Jones said.

            “Again, my feelings, especially what he has done in the East Williston area. I’ll give you one example. I went into Melanie’s (restaurant) one time for breakfast. He was in there. I didn’t know him. They knew him. He knew them by name and they were talking to him like they had been bosom buddies all their life and I had no clue who they were. And, like I said, I talked to business owners and individuals and his name came to the top of the list, and his commander experience, that more than qualified him to be chief of police,” Robinson said.

            Robinson disagreed with Jones’ assessment that civilian panels had been used to select the last three or four police chiefs. He said civilian panels had been used only when there were applicants from outside the city and the police department. In this case, he said all four of the applicants were from the Williston Police Department. He said a citizens panel wasn’t needed. He said the duties of interviewing the four candidates fell on his shoulders as the mayor. Robinson said the city’s charter gives him authority to nominate the police chief and he accused Jones of trying to change the charter by inventing a procedure that wasn’t in the charter, an allegation she denied. She said she was working for the betterment of the city.

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City of Williston Regular Meeting March 8, 2022; Posted March 10, 2022