The city agency tasked with vetting people applying to be Denver police officers and firefighters has named a new executive director after the agency’s appointed board fired the previous director in May for undisclosed reasons.
The Denver Civil Service Commission will welcome Gracie Perez on Aug. 26, according to an internal announcement sent to the commission’s staff and other stakeholders earlier this month. That emailed announcement was shared with The Denver Post on Thursday.
Perez’s background includes serving as the director of state and regional operations for Texas Health and Human Services’ Access and Eligibility Services division, according to that email. In that role, she oversaw 6,000 employees and managed systems that processed eligibility for programs ranging from Medicaid to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
“The Civil Service Commission is dedicated to certifying the best-qualified candidates for employment and promotions within the Denver Police and Fire Departments, reflecting the diversity of our community,” Amber Miller president of the Civil Service Commission’s five-member board of commissioners said in a statement. “Under Gracie’s leadership, we are confident that the Commission’s application and testing processes will become more accessible, streamlined, and aligned with the expectations of our community and a modern workforce.”
Perez will take over as executive director almost a full three months after the board of commissioners fired previous director Neicy Murray on May 28. Murray’s dismissal was announced hours after she held a news conference on the City and County Building steps during which she accused Mayor Mike Johnston and other unnamed city officials of pressuring her agency to lower standards for new applicants to pump up the size of recruiting classes for the city’s public safety departments.
In a statement announcing Murray’s dismissal, the commission’s board did not specify why she was being fired. The board also denied assertions that members ever pressured Murray to lower minimum test scores for police recruits.
Johnston committed $8.2 million in the city’s budget to hiring 167 additional police officers this year. The department has so far hired 71 new officers with two more recruiting classes expected to graduate by the end of the year, according to DPD officials.
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