West Melbourne to hire Greg Vesta from small Chicago suburb as city's new police chief
West Melbourne's incoming police chief is a 26-year veteran of the police department in Wood Dale, Illinois, a smaller city of roughly 14,000 residents just west of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
On Tuesday night, the West Melbourne City Council unanimously confirmed the hiring of Greg Vesta to replace retired police chief Richard Wiley, who led the department from September 2012 until August.
"West Melbourne has identified opportunities, challenges, and traits of the ideal candidate that you are seeking to fill with the upcoming vacancy. I am positive that I would be successful in working with the community to achieve these goals," Vesta wrote in his resume cover letter.
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"The three main themes I learned that the community seeks in their next Chief of Police is to enhance the already strong relationship with the community, develop the members of the department for a higher level of leadership capabilities, and to take a fresh look at the operations of the department to address the needs of the community," Vesta wrote.
City Manager Tim Rhode said he hopes Vesta is on the job with "boots on the ground" within 30 days.
Vesta, 49 has served as Wood Dale police chief the past 11 years. He rose the command ranks: patrol officer from 1996-2000; sergeant from 2000-05; deputy chief from 2005-11; and police chief since 2011.
Fifty-four candidates applied from across the nation for the West Melbourne police chief opening, Rhode said. Eight finalists were selected. They visited town on Sept. 9-10 for interview sessions and a community meet-and-greet at Promise Café and Bakery at West Melbourne Community Park.
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Afterward, Vesta — who emerged as Rhode's preferred candidate — spent about a week finalizing terms of employment. Vesta will earn a base annual salary of $130,000 per year, and the city will pay him a $4,000 relocation and moving expense allowance.
Rhode said Vesta went through an extensive background check. Hurricane Ian delayed his City Council confirmation, which was initially scheduled for Oct. 4.
“(He) and his wife were in town for the physical and polygraph and different items that we had put him through. And I had a chance to have dinner with him, and he’s really excited," Rhode told council members.
Vesta did not attend Tuesday's meeting. On Thursday night, the Wood Dale City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution honoring his retirement as police chief there. He started service with the department as a patrol officer on April 30, 1996.
The Wood Dale Police Department employed 32 sworn officers last year, according to the department's annual report. The department also investigated its first murder "in decades."
In that May 2021 case, a 30-year-old Wood Dale man was charged with first-degree murder and accused of fatally stabbing his father with a sword, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney press release.
West Melbourne's police department has 52 sworn officers. The city's population has swelled to 28,127 residents across 10.8 square miles, according to a recruiting brochure for the police chief job opening.
The Wood Dale City Council resolution notes that Vesta served as president of the DuPage County Chiefs of Police Association and was a co-chair and founding member of the DuPage County Heroin/Opioid Prevention and Education (H.O.P.E) Taskforce.
Vesta expects to complete his Master in Public Administration this year from American Military University, his resume said.
West Melbourne Deputy Police Chief Rich Cordeau has served as acting police chief during the hiring process.
Vesta's hiring is the first since West Melbourne voters overwhelmingly approved a 2020 city charter change directing police chiefs to be appointed — and removed — by the city manager, rather than the City Council. West Melbourne had been Brevard County’s lone municipality where the police chief reported directly to a political body.
In another employment move Tuesday, the City Council Council approved an employment agreement with new City Attorney John Cary, pending successful completion of a medical screening and background check.
The vote was 6-1, with Council Member Stephen Phrampus voting no. Cary will replace Morris Richardson, who started work in September as Brevard County attorney.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: West Melbourne to hire Wood Dale Police Chief Greg Vesta from Illinois
