2 more certified to interview for police chief

Two more candidates have been certified to interview for the vacant Brainerd Police Department chief position, bringing the total number of candidates to be interviewed to six.

The Brainerd Police and Fire Civil Service Commission has now certified Bill Brown, a lieutenant with the Minot, N.D., Police Department, and Rick Kleinschmidt, a Belgrade resident currently working as a sergeant with the Willmar Police Department.

Based on oral testing, written testing and a round of interviews conducted Oct. 30-31 by law enforcement and public safety officials from across the state, the top three candidates certified Nov. 13 by the police commission were John Bolduc, police chief of Mora; Thomas Bergamine, a police captain in Fayetteville, N.C.; and Stanley Ross, police chief of Madison, Minn.

Bolduc withdrew from the certified list because, at the time, a potential move was not in the best interest of his family, Bolduc said in his letter of withdrawal.

The fourth candidate, Brainerd Police Sgt. Becky Putzke, was certified for the interview process to replace Bolduc.

Because of the close test scores of the fifth and sixth candidates, Brainerd Mayor James Wallin also requested that those candidates -- Brown and Kleinschmidt -- be certified for interview. He also asked that Bolduc be contacted to see if he was still interested in interviewing.

Bolduc informed Wallin that he was again interested in interviewing for the position, and along with Brown and Kleinschmidt will be interviewed Thursday by a panel of Brainerd officials.

Bergamine, Ross and Putzke have already been interviewed by the panel.

Making up the interview panel is Wallin, Lucy Nesheim, Brainerd City Council president, Frank Asplund, Brainerd City Council member and chair of the Personnel and Finance Committee, and Dan Vogt, Brainerd city administrator.

The panel will bring its recommendations for police chief to the Brainerd City Council for final approval.

The Brainerd Police Chief position has been vacant since previous Chief Frank Ball announced his retirement at the end of July. Capt. Lyman Dahl is serving as head of the police department until a new police chief is hired. Dahl didn't seek the full-time police chief position.