San Marcos City Council Postpones Ad Hoc Committee Nominations

Staff Reports

On Tuesday, the San Marcos City Council voted to postpone the nominations to the Ad Hoc Committee until their next meeting.

The committee is charged with reviewing the use of force policies of the San Marcos Police Department and providing the council and chief of police with recommendations.

During the July 7 work session, Interim Chief of Police Bob Klett provided the council with a presentation detailing many aspects of the policy in response to emails and messages received by council members.

Staff provided the council with a recommendation to create an Ad Hoc Committee for the limited purposes of reviewing the department’s policies and making recommendations to Chief Klett and his advisory panel, which is charged with reviewing and recommending policy changes to the department.

Mayor Jane Hughson noted the council had received an email earlier about possibly postponing the item.

Director of Public Safety, Chase Stapp, said when staff and the council began the discussions on the creation of a Use of Force review committee, the city had no clue as to the outcome of the search for a new police chief might end up.

“Interim Chief Klett was in that process up until just recently,” Stapp said, “But did not make the top two. Now we know for certain that he would not be the chief that would be present to work with the community throughout most of the process.”

Stapp said staff decided to recommend the postponement to allow staff time to complete the selection of a new police chief.

According to Stapp, City Manager Bert Lumbreras is slated to complete the final interviews soon and will brief the City Council during executive on who to appoint on Oct. 20.

Hughson said the postponement would allow the new police chief an opportunity to review the committee and see if they have a better idea on how to approach the issue.

Councilmember Maxfield Baker said he hated waiting on things that the council could right now for the sake of simply having the new police chief at the table.

While Councilmember Melissa Derrick said she agreed with Baker, she wasn’t prepared to make any appointments at this time.

The council agreed to accept the applicants for the Ad Hoc Committee who had submitted their applications late and postpone the item until the next meeting. 

A majority of the council also decided to limit applicants to those who live within the city limits. 

The motion to postpone passed unanimously.