The Ypsilanti Police Department may soon have a deputy police chief, according to City Manager Ralph Lange, but the city is not publicly naming the finalist until the contract is signed.

The city is seeking to fill the deputy chief position.

The city has settled on one applicant and is now in the negotiation process.

Lange said council will not approve the hire. Instead of a public interview process, a committee was created to interview the applicants.

"In this case, it's my choice that council doesn't get to approve them," Lange said. "The issue is, we're working through an extremely difficult contract."

Lange said it was his decision to not make the search a public process. The only positions that require direct council approval and in turn a public process, according to Lange, are the city manager and city clerk positions.

"I have made sure that council was aware this is where we were going," he said. "They understand, so we proceeded along with it. It's not a public process, it's a choice."

The city recently narrowed the pool of applicants down from three to one. Lange said no current department employees applied. AnnArbor.com has submitted a FOIA request for the names of the finalists.

Lange said part of the difficulty stems from the fact that this individual, who is from outside of the police department, has a job elsewhere. Lange said if negotiations were to break down, he doesn't want to place the person in a potentially uncomfortable situation.

"The person has a job, but will not turn in their MERS until we have a contract," Lange said. "If I were to put the names out, I'm jeopardizing their job. Until the contract is signed, you don't have a deal."

Judi Smith, human resources manager, said initial interviews were conducted on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29. Lange said panels sorted out the interviews and applicants.

"We had a panel and reviewed the top six or seven people for the deputy chief position and we're going to do the same for the fire chief," Lange said.

Smith said the minimum pay for the position is $75,000 and Lange is hopeful to have the process wrapped up before the end of January.

The deputy police chief position has not been filled since 2005. Pittsfield Township Public Safety Director Matt Harshberger, who became the Ypsilanti police chief in 2006, was the deputy chief at the time.

Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.