Fort Worth city council member Chris Nettles joined pastor and community activist Rev. Kyev Tatum in raising alarm bells about former Dallas police chief Eddie García’s application for the city’s top cop.
Tatum alleges García applied after the June 4 deadline with the assistance of former Fort Worth police chief Neil Noakes.
“This isn’t just unfair to the qualified candidates who honored the rules — it’s a slap in the face to the integrity of the entire selection process,” Tatum said in a Facebook post outlining his allegations.
“Whether it’s illegal or not, it’s certainly unethical,” he said in the post.
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Related:Former Dallas police chief Eddie García a finalist for the Fort Worth position
When reached by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Tatum pointed to city human resource records as evidence García had applied after the application deadline.
The Star-Telegram filed a records request July 1 asking for the list of applicants, but city attorneys are asking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block the release, citing privacy concerns.
Nettles said the late application brought back concerns about a “baked process” similar to those raised during the hiring of city manager Jay Chapa.
He argued García’s late application should disqualify him from consideration.
Interim city spokesperson Sana Syed said Noakes did not play a role in García’s application or selection as a finalist.
“The City’s search firm, Mosaic Public Partners, spoke with Chief Garcia about the position the week of June 9 (the deadline to apply was June 4). Because it was still early in the process and all the applications had not yet been screened, City Manager Jay Chapa allowed him to submit his application,” Syed said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
She added this isn’t unusual for searches of this type, noting that cities will often keep the door open for qualified candidates.
“In fact, before the posting was made public, the City asked Mosaic to make us aware of any candidates who expressed interest past the deadline,” Syed said.
García submitted his application while all the other applications were being vetted, and his resume was screened at the same time as everyone else, Syed said.
“Chief Garcia did not receive special privileges. He submitted his application in a reasonable window that still allowed this process to be fair to all candidates,” she said.
Tatum called the city’s response “deflection 101” and said García should be removed from consideration.
“The rules are the rules, otherwise there is no integrity in the process,” he said in a text message.
Syed did not immediately respond to Nettles’ statement, but she acknowledged receiving a Star-Telegram inquiry about the statement.
García was announced on July 14 as one of four finalists for the open Fort Worth police chief position along with current interim chief Robert Alldredge, former Dallas police assistant chief Vernon Hale and Los Angeles police deputy chief Emada Tingirides.
Tingirides took herself out of contention on July 21, citing a promotion from her position as deputy chief to assistant chief overseeing five Los Angeles Police Department bureaus, according to a city of Fort Worth press release.
Fifty-one candidates applied for the open position, of which nine were interviewed before the four finalists were selected.
Residents will have an opportunity to question the three remaining finalists at a forum at New City Hall at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14.
Chapa will then make the final selection before getting council approval sometime in September.
Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram