The search is on right now to hire a new police chief for the City of South Tucson, according to City Manager Sixto Molina.
Molina says he did not renew Chief Michael Ford's contract for next year and would not go into detail why he made that decision.
Now Molina is taking steps to fill the position.
"The first thing I hope to do is meet with the staff provide them with a survey to find out and try to get a clue of the profile of the police chief they want to work for," he said.
This comes after the city already cut positions in the police and fire department to make up for more than a $650,000 budget deficit.
Molina says what's next is sparking economic development.
"We are getting a lot of interest from some developers and real estate people," he explained. "In fact, I met yesterday with folks from the Arizona Board of Reality, I gave them a presentation of South Tucson and they seemed very excited."
He says already there is a dentist building going up and more businesses are on the way.
On of the goals he hopes to achieve is seeing new homes pop up.
"We have identified a lot of vacant lands and old dilapidated homes that could be knocked down and be rebuilt and have affordable housing. We are an American patriot city and we want to change our image," he said.
Other goals for the future he says are to hire more firefighters, provide affordable housing for veterans and reduce the tax rate to a half cent less than the city of Tucson's.
