Gee calls Wilson’s hiring process for city’s next chief ‘performative’: ‘You didn’t need that collective voice when letting a chief go’

 The City of Seattle hosted the first of three public sessions where candidates for the next chief of police have a chance to respond to community feedback.

To support the search, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced an 18-member citizen advisory search committee to find a new chief by January. The committee includes Community Roots Housing CEO Colleen Echohawk and Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President Kent Loux.

“I saw so many names on the committee that was part of it, and it’s interesting; some of the same names that were there at City Hall to ask the mayor not to get rid of the chief,” KIRO host Gee Scott said. “You can have this collective voice on hiring a chief, but you don’t need that collective voice when letting a chief go. Whatever decision is made, great hiring process, all of these listening sessions, keep that same energy when it’s time to let it go. Because right now, the way it is designed, it is designed for all of this hoopla and performative acts to hire, but to get rid of or force to resign is one decision, and that decision ends up costing taxpayers money.”

Gee’s co-host, Ursula Reutin, said she’s still waiting for a fuller explanation of Wilson’s stated reasoning for asking Barnes to resign.

“The mayor had a special window that none of us could see into,” Ursula said. “I’m still waiting to see what exactly it is that was so obvious to her in that window.”

Ursula said her wish for the next chief is someone committed to staying in the role and willing to engage directly with the media, something she said Wilson has not done.

“I want the next police chief to be someone who is genuinely committed to this city, not someone looking at this as a next stop on a resume,” Ursula said. “This is one of the things that I loved about Chief Barnes — he understands the importance of connection with the media, something that our mayor right now has yet to give us an opportunity to interview her. I want a chief who will speak to the media, answer difficult questions, and explain to all of us what the department is doing, what’s working, and what is not.”

Two other listening sessions are scheduled on Monday, Sept. 28, at Seattle University and Wednesday, Sept. 30, at North Seattle College.

“Imagine this at your job, though,” Gee said. “We’re going to do a national search, and we’re going to have listening sessions and all that. You know damn well that that’s performative.”

Still, Ursula thinks the sessions should be a baseline expectation for a hiring process this consequential.

“I think it’s basically the very least you could do when hiring a new chief,” Ursula said. “Have a listening session or two or three.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.