Steady service

Kindler was appointed to the chief's position in November 1980 by Mayor Cecil Jaksha. In the history of personnel decisions, Kindler's hiring has to be one of the wisest moves ever. It would be a big understatement to say Kindler justified Jaksha's faith. Kindler didn't take his law enforcement training and experience elsewhere after a few years, as happens so often in many career fields. Rather, he stayed and methodically built a strong police department, which is now considered one of the best police departments of its size around the state.

Perhaps the truest test of Kindler's leadership is visible in the fact that, while he has been chief, the turnover rate for the department's police officers has been extremely low. In other words, Police Chief Kindler has been a friendly, fair, and respected boss. Without a lot of flash, Kindler has been a steady and professional law enforcement leader in this community for more than two decades. He has hired a solid team of officers, successfully guided the recent consolidation of the Bingen and White Salmon police forces, and created a detective's position within the department for the first time.

In short, he has been a solid all-around leader,and Kindler's service to the community will be greatly missed.

Thanks, Ned. We wish you all the best.

JB