The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees selected Jeff Daniels as its new police chief during their meeting Tuesday.
Daniels was previously assistant chief. He will replace Chief Todd Hiner, who is retiring at the end of this week.
Board member Carol Gregg made the motion which was seconded by Tammy Hawkins and the vote was unanimous.
With many of the ECISD police force present, Daniels got a standing ovation. The board and audience joined in.
Daniels will be sworn in Friday. He has been with the police department for 24 years and served three years at the Odessa College Police Department.
“It’s a huge honor,” Daniels said. “We’ve got a great department and I’m just looking forward to what the future brings for ECISD and our department.”
He wants to keep the same momentum they have as one of the best agencies in Ector County.
As for looking for an assistant chief, Daniels said they are going to be looking at the process and evaluating the department to see what the future holds for promotions.
Hiner has been police chief for eight years and with the ECISD Police Department for 25 years. He was with the Odessa Police Department before that for eight years.
Hiner plans to go into his pest control business, Chief Pest Control, full time and enjoy his family.
He said he has been planning his retirement for a year.
Hiner said Daniels was his pick as a successor and he’s excited about the transition.
“His capabilities are enormous. His work ethic is unparalleled,” Hiner said.
“It makes that transition easier, because I know it’s in good hands,” Hiner said.
On another item, trustees discussed budget priorities for 2023-24.
Employee compensation, particularly for the lower paid staff, school safety, mental health, effective teaching and building maintenance and upkeep were some of the items trustees talked about.
In a previous item, but connected to budget priorities, trustee Delma Abalos talked about customer service.
The district plans to spend $25,000 to hire a firm to train front-line employees, to start with, on customer service.
Four-hundred employees would undergo training initially.
“I feel that as a board member I cannot go out in the community and ask people to pass a bond if we can’t treat our community well … If we don’t make some changes, I myself won’t go out and ask for a bond,” Abalos said.
“It’s something that I feel we really need to address. If we get to a point where we call for a bond I hope we change our attitude about how we treat people that come into the building,” she added.
