The consultant will be selected at a public meeting starting at 2 p.m. at the Honolulu Police Department’s headquarters building, said Ron Taketa, chairman of the seven-member Police Commission. Taketa declined comment on how many applicants are being considered.

The list, however, does include Los Gatos, Calif.-based Terry Eisenberg of Personnel Performance Inc., a psychologist who has been involved in the selection of Honolulu police chiefs as a paid consultant since the 1983 search for a successor to Francis Keala. That chief’s job eventually went to Doug Gibb.

The commission’s goal is to have Donohue’s successor on the job by the first week of September, said Taketa.

The other commissioners are Jimmy Borges, Alan Ho, Paul Leong, Caroll Takahashi, Charlene "Cha" Thompson and Charles Heitzman.

The cost of the total selection process — which includes the hiring of a consultant, advertisement for applicants and renting space for interviews — is expected to be higher than the $42,000 spent in the 1998 search. In 1990, the commission spent about $32,000 on a 7›-month selection process that resulted in Michael Nakamura being named chief.

By comparison, Donohue’s selection process took only 4› months, said Taketa, the only commission member to have served on boards that picked both Nakamura and Donohue. The current guidelines to process applicants were established by the commission in 1990.

Donohue’s retirement takes effect on July 1.

The commission plans to name an acting chief next month and the job will be offered to senior Deputy Chief Glen Kajiyama, said Taketa. If Kajiyama declines, the position will be offered to Deputy Paul Putzulu, HPD’s third-highest administrator.

May 28 is the deadline to apply for the chief’s position.

In 1990, nine of the 41 applicants were from outside of Hawai'i. There were no out-of-state candidates among the 19 applicants in 1998. Taketa refused comment on how many applications have been received this year.

This year’s applicants’ list will likely include Assistant Chiefs John Kerr and Robert Prasser, who were among the four finalists in 1998; Kajiyama, Putzulu, and Assistant Chief Boisse Correa.

To qualify, an applicant must have at least five years of law-enforcement experience, including three years in a management position — which translates into a rank of captain and above — and a degree from a four-year college or something equivalent.