Jim Morris says a timeline for police chief retirement will be provided today

Mayoral Chief of Staff Jim Morris said that the Mayor's Office will provide a timeline on the selection process for a new police chief and city manager today.

Police Chief Michael Billdt unleashed a surprise Thursday when he revealed that he would push back his retirement. Billdt had said he would retire in March, an announcement that followed the police union's no confidence vote in his leadership.

Exactly how long Billdt plans to stay on the job is still not known.

The announcement marks the administration's second reversal in the controversy since the no confidence vote. The first was the abandoning of a plan to subject SBPD to an outside audit.

When public tensions between the chief and police unions were at their most severe, Mayor Pat Morris announced the Police Department needed an outside evaluator. There was talk of bringing Cal State San Bernardino criminologist Larry Gaines and former Fontana and Rialto police chief Frank Scialdone in to take a look at SBPD.

That proposal was quietly dropped. In November, police union president Rich Lawhead said he could accept the development, but his comments were based on the assumption that the Police Department would have new leadership in March.