The Luther Town Board of Trustees Thursday night met behind closed doors to cull down a list of resumes for Luther Police Chief. After an hour, the board reconvened in open session and announced eight names of candidates to be interviewed on October 10.
The names are:
David Abel
Chuck Brewer
Virgil Green
Ron Lentz
John Noriega
Kyle McDaniel
David Randall
Robert Williams
There was no other identifying information of the candidates but many are known from nearby communities and various law enforcement entities.
One of the candidates, McDaniel, is a Luther resident and was the only applicant at the meeting. He has law enforcement experience in Jones and Oklahoma City and said he is a proponent of community policing, especially in small towns.
In other business, the board voted to declare four police cars as surplus vehicles. The vehicles are parked behind Town Hall and are in various stages of disrepair. The value of each vehicle will be assessed before before they are sold.
- The board voted to approve one debit card for the Town’s General Fund to be used solely by the Office Manager with prior permission from the Board to be used mostly for online purchases.
- The board voted to file a petition against former Town of Luther employee Donita Roby to collect on the $48,000 on a conviction on embezzlement charges. Roby was given a 20-year suspended in January 2016, and no prison time, if she repaid the Town $200 a month which she has not done, according to Town officials. The Town has employed attorney Matthew Winton to pursue collection.
- Trustee Ron Henry apologized for missing a couple of meetings while he has been recovering from illness.
- Saturday, October 28, will be the official day of celebration for Halloween within the Town.
- The planning meetings (held on the fourth Thursday of the month) will be suspended in November and December because of the holidays. The last regularly scheduled Planning Meeting of the year will be October 26. The new board began holding these meetings in April to welcome citizen input and open discussion on a variety of issues.
