Kudos to Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone for opening the process of selecting the next chief of police to the public. And a tip of the hat to Robert R. Bradley, Ruben Galindo and Anthony Holloway for meeting with the community and responding to their questions and concerns.

If community members do not agree with Curtatone’s selection, they will be armed with plenty of information and knowledge of the process and the candidates involved.

When the  job of chief of the Somerville Police Department was taken out of civil service, many thought the person in that position would become nothing more than the mayor‚Äôs lackey, a yes man without ideas of his own. The mayor and police chief should run for office as running mates and appear on the ballot together, said Jack Leutcher, president of the Patrolmen‚Äôs Union. The job will become so politicized, he said, we mine as well be honest about it.

Well, the time has not yet come to see if the police chief can be independent of the mayor or even disagree with him. But one thing is for sure, the process of finding a new chief has not been a bag job.

Boston’s recent search for a superintendent of schools smacked of secrecy and closed door meetings. Refreshingly, there has been none of that here. We are fully aware of the final candidates for the job and the process that brought them here.

If one has a gripe on Curtatone‚Äôs selection for the city‚Äôs next top cop, they won‚Äôt be able to knock the process. The News has pointed out a number of times that Curtatone stated on the record last year that he would choose Bradley for the job. If he decides to stick with the only local guy in the running, it won‚Äôt be because he already had a chief in mind. It will be a result of a clean, open process that brought the best candidate to Somerville.