It's not that hard to hire someone new 

The San Luis Obispo City Council has been reporting on how financially strapped this city is, and yet they are again hiring an expensive consultant to “search” for a police chief. It shows that, while so many families are having to deal with financial setbacks, this city still isn’t changing the way it does business in order to keep costs down for its residents.

This is a city of approximately 50,000 people, not a Los Angeles or a San Francisco. The city administrator is paid more than $300,000, and that job used to include the hiring of city staff. It is not rocket science to place an ad in the appropriate professional journals.

By the way, it should also be noted that some of the best candidates for this position should be right in our own police department. It is the responsibility of every department head to identify and train the best people in their departments to be able to take over in their absence.