LODI — Mayor Dan Goodrow broke Village Council’s deadlock over the appointment of a former Florida police officer as Lodi’s new police chief.

Council was divided 3-3 over hiring an officer from within the department or hiring someone outside of it.

Goodrow said Keith Keough, 48, was recommended by an interview panel because he had the best qualifications of the applicants interviewed. Eleven candidates submitted applications; six were interviewed.

“What put Mr. Keough over the top was his background, his experience,” Goodrow said. “Probably his command experience was the deciding factor.”

The interviews were done by a three-person selection panel and Goodrow, as laid out by the Ohio Revised Code, Goodrow said. The panel, made up of local business owners and law enforcement personnel, then recommended one candidate to be presented to council for approval.

Councilwoman Patricia Graham said council was not included in the interview process as it had been when the village hired Andrew Wurstner as fire chief in February.

“We felt that we should have been in on the initial interviews, it was always that way in the past,” she said. “It was done differently this time.”

Keough worked for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida for 25 years, starting as a patrol officer. He was promoted to a detective in the homicide unit four years later and retired from the district as a lieutenant.

Three years ago, he moved to Chatham Township, where he resides with his wife and two children. He is currently a corporal at the Medina County Juvenile Detention Center.

Keough is not Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy-certified. In order to carry a weapon and make arrests, police officers in Ohio must be OPOTA certified.

Keough said his Florida certification will be compared with OPOTA regulations, and he will be given a list of courses he needs to complete to become certified. Though it may take months to complete the training, Keough said he does not expect it to affect his job performance because the position is largely administrative.

“I know it is an issue, but my position as police chief is to direct people in the department,” he said. “I will be able to function as police chief without certification.”

Keough is replacing Stephen Sivard, who was chief for 24 years.

Sivard, 60, started with the Lodi Police Department as a special officer in 1980, becoming a full-time patrol officer in 1981. He was appointed chief in 1985.

“It was time (to retire),” he said. “I am no longer physically capable to perform police functions as they may be required of me.”

However, Sivard said stepping down as police chief does not mean he is finished being active in the community: he is running for village council in the November election.

“I’ve worked with the village for years, and I think it will be interesting to be on the other side of the table,” he said.

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.