The day before the finalists entered into what likely was an intensive, daylong round of interviews, the general public had a chance to meet the seven candidates hoping to replace retiring Bothell Police Chief Forrest Conover.

“Bothell is a very special place,” Conover told the 30 or so persons gathered in Mobius Hall on the campus of Cascadia Community College early the evening of Nov. 7. The crowd included members of the general public, family members of the candidates and plenty of police and city officials.

Conover added that after spending the better part of three decades here, he feels “pretty protective” of his department. But Conover also stated he feels any of the seven candidates to replace him could do a worthy job. He said that is despite the fact police work, including the chief’s job, is becoming more and more complicated. Conover noted the recent violence against local police on display statewide in the last year or so, as well as what he described as never-ending budget problems.

The city hired executive search firm Prothman of Bellevue to conduct the hunt for the new chief. Deputy City Manager Steve Anderson said Bothell received some 40 applications. Officials conducted 18 initial interviews, then settled on seven finalists.

Anderson noted that on Nov. 8, those finalists would be meeting face-to-face with himself, City Manager Bob Stowe and, representing the hired search firm, Greg Prothman. Finalists also will talk with separate panels of police officials and various Bothell department heads.

Conover’s last day on the job has been given as Jan. 31. In the past, Anderson said that, ideally, he wants the new chief in place by late December or early January.

At the Cascadia reception, each chief finalist was invited to talk briefly about their careers and discuss why they wanted to come to Bothell. Each also was asked to describe a moment where they were embarrassed or made a gaffe in the course of their careers. The questions were the same asked of candidates trying last year for the position of city fire chief during a very similar public reception at Bothell’s downtown firehouse. During the event for the police candidates, Capt. Steve Lynch, currently of the Bellevue Police Department, volunteered to speak first.

Lynch commented that he had not applied for any other chief’s position prior to trying for the Bothell spot. He said he admires Bothell’s department and just believes he could be a good fit for the job.

According to Lynch, after spending any decent amount of time on the job, any police officer ought to easily come up with any number of embarrassing moments. The incident he related came early in his career and involved a superior asking him for the footprint of a potential robbery suspect.

For whatever reason, Lynch had the suspect remove his shoes and socks, inked the man’s feet with a roller and had him step on the paper used to collect prints. What Lynch’s superior really wanted, of course, was an imprint of the suspect’s shoes.

Currently a department chief with the King County Sheriff’s Office, Carol Cummings is the only female finalist. She began her career in Oregon in 1981 before moving to this area and beginning to work her way up in the sheriff’s office.

Her experience here includes serving for about seven years as chief for a department within the sheriff’s office. Her current assignment is head of special operations. Cummings described that department as being “where all the toys are:” the county air, marine and SWAT units, for example, and all the specialized vehicles and equipment assigned to those units.

Cummings’ embarrassing moment came during her rookie days. Supposedly sneaking up on a possible burglary, Cummings accidentally set off her cruiser’s overhead lights. She then turned on the car’s sirens while trying to turn off the lights.

The other chief candidates include: Capt. David Allison of the Roseville (Calif.) Police Department, the only out-of-state finalist; George Delgado, currently a police commander in Vancouver, Wash.; James Lawless, an assistant chief with Edmonds police; Timothy Quenzer, chief of police in Monroe; and Brad Thompson, a commander with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

As with all city appointments, Stowe has the final say regarding who becomes Bothell’s next chief of police. Anderson said elected officials are not involved directly. Under Bothell’s form of government, city council appoints the city manager, who then makes all other appointments.

According to a four-page job announcement, the new chief will earn between approximately $114,000 and $146,000 annually for overseeing a department of roughly 84 employees. That number includes 58 commissioned officers who responded to some 25,678 calls for service in 2009. The department budget equaled $23 million last year.