San Luis signs new police chief

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Former Texas sheriff Ricardo “Rick” Flores will be this city's new police chief.

By a 4-2 vote in a special session Thursday night, the San Luis City Council approved a contract that will make Flores the city's police chief at a starting salary of $90,000 annually.

Flores is scheduled to begin his new post April 12.

The two dissenting votes were cast by Councilmen Marco Antonio Reyes Jr. and Archibaldo Egurrola, who objected to a contract provision that would pay him a severance package equaling the amount of his annual salary if he were discharged.

Reyes described the severance package as “unusual,” given that this is an election year when a new city council will take office and will be bound by the terms of the contract approved by a former council.

Flores was sheriff of Webb County in Texas until losing his re-election bid in 2008, after which he joined the adult probation department for the same county. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal science and a master's in arts and sociology, and is also a part-time teacher.

The council's approval of his contract follows the city council's vote in December to re-establish the police chief position. It had been dissolved several years ago by the council in favor of creating the position of public safety director, responsible for overseeing both the police and fire departments.

That position had been vacant since Gilbert Lara's resignation in 2007.  After Lara's resignation, Police Capt. Javier Nuño had overseen the police department on an acting basis.