GUILDERLAND — After months of disagreement, the town board discussed on Tuesday some aspects of the selection process for a police chief.

Empty for a year now, since long-time chief, James Murley, resigned amid controversy, the position may soon be filled as the board moves toward a permanent appointment.  Since Murley’s departure, veteran officer Carol Lawlor has been acting chief . She and Lieutenant Curtis Cox both took the promotion-class Civil Service exam on March 8; those who pass the test will be on a certified list from which the town can choose to fill the position.

The two Republicans on the board, who took office in January on what had been an All-Democratic board, have been critical of the town’s selection process, accusing the Democratic majority of being secretive and trying to promote “insiders.”  They have been calling for an open discussion of the process for months.

On Tuesday, at Republican Councilman Mark Grimm’s request, the board discussed the process.  Grimm began by asking board members to itemize what each is looking for in a police chief.

“I’ll go first,” he said.  Embracing and understanding technology topped his list, he also said that he’d like to be able to quantify what the department is doing in terms of arrests, and, “Of course, leadership is critical,” he said.

Democratic Councilwoman Patricia Slavick offered that she’d like to see someone who can carry out the policies and procedures of the town and someone who has administrative skills.

Republican Councilman Warren Redlich said that he’d like to get a better understanding of what the department is dealing with.  Redlich, a lawyer, said that, if the department is dealing mostly with petit larceny, speeding tickets, and driving while intoxicated arrests, the town may be looking for different qualities in a chief than if there are major drug problems, gang influences, or threats from Internet predators.

“Do we have a sense of what else they’re handling?” he asked.

Earlier in the year, Redlich proposed having the leaders of town departments, including the police department, come before the board to discuss the workings of each branch — the motion was defeated 3 to 2, along party lines.  Supervisor Kenneth Runion suggested at the time that if Redlich would like to learn more about town business, he should make an appointment with the appropriate department head.  The supervisor made the same suggestion to Redlich on Tuesday regarding the police department.

“The best thing is to educate yourself,” Runion told Redlich, by meeting with officers and talking about the department.  Redlich has said in the past that he thinks it’s important to have the discussion in public.

When Grimm asked Runion to “paint that vision,” of what he’s looking for, Runion responded that he’d like to start the interview process and evaluate each candidate.  Runion has said that he is eager to begin interviewing and has placed an ad for the position in The Enterprise, the town’s official newspaper in an effort to draw more applicants.  Redlich said that he’d like to see the position advertised in the Times Union, The Daily Gazette, and The Troy Record while Grimm said that it should also be advertised in police publications, to which Runion agreed, as well as extending the deadline from its current date of March 28.

Redlich then asked Runion about setting procedure for handling driving-while-ability- impaired cases, to which Runion answered, “If you violate the law, you’re going to get a ticket.”

“I don’t want to know what the policy is, I want to know who makes the policy,” Redlich said.  In the past, he has suggested that policy-making positions fall under a different set of rules for hiring and firing.

A police officer who was at the meeting, Gary Lee, answered Redlich’s question about where policy regarding a DWAI case would come from by saying, “I would imagine it would come from the chief.”