City Councilman Ernie Martin wants the Honolulu Police Commission to speed up its search for a new police chief, and he suggests the hiring process “should be shortened by choosing the new chief from one of the qualified leaders currently serving in the department.”

Martin introduced Resolution 17-220, asking his colleagues to join him in pressing the commission to fill the chief’s post by Nov. 30. The job has been vacant since embattled former Chief Louis Kealoha resigned effective March 1 amid controversy.

Cary Okimoto, Kealoha’s senior deputy chief, has been acting chief since Kea­loha put himself on paid leave in mid-December after he was informed by federal officials that he is a target of a criminal conspiracy investigation.

Martin’s resolution, which even suggests the Council would take “all available actions” to ensure the commission picks a chief in a timely fashion, goes before the Council Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The commission first announced it had 34 qualified applicants in June, so the commission should have progressed further in its search by now, Martin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday.

“Don’t tell me that the top 10 couldn’t have come down to the top 10 already, and those top 10 been interviewed and a selection made,” he said. “It should have been done already.”

Hiring someone from within HPD’s ranks would be beneficial, Martin said. “I think right now the department is taking a beating in regards to its image,” he said. “I’m confident there are more than enough capable candidates both within the department or who have since left the department.”

To hire someone from outside HPD “sends the message that we don’t have any confidence in the department as it presently exists,” Martin said. If there are concerns that top brass may have been involved with the Kealoha controversy, the commission could hire from the ranks of major or captain, he said. Kealoha and the late Michael Nakamura were among those who were captains when they became chief, he said.

Martin said he sees no systemic issues with HPD. “You cannot deny the fact that, other than some of the controversies (that) have arisen, that the department is in good standing with respect to what they are chartered to do, which is to protect and serve,” he said, noting that Honolulu is considered among the safest cities in the United States.

Max Sword, commission chairman, said Thursday that the reasons for the delay in selecting a chief are beyond his panel’s control. A consultant the commission selected to help pick a chief pulled out at the last minute in June, and the commission only earlier this month was able to seal a contract with the second- choice vendor, Pennsylvania-based EB Jacobs.

“And then there were certain procedures we had to do, hoops we had to jump through, and we did,” Sword said. While commissioners had said in May they’d hoped to have a chief by the end of August, Sword has said in recent weeks that it is aiming for October. “Right now we’re looking good for the beginning of October,” he said.

As for Martin’s suggestion that the commission hire locally, Sword disagreed. “We would be doing the citizens of the City and County of Honolulu an injustice if we didn’t go for the best applicant,” he said.

Sword and the commission earlier this year testified before the Legislature to change a state law requiring that agency heads be Hawaii residents for at least a year, making an exception for the heads of Hawaii’s law enforcement agencies. House Bill 1534 passed, despite objections by the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers. Gov. David Ige signed that bill in June.

Councilman Brandon Elefante, who heads the public safety committee, introduced an amended draft to Martin’s bill that takes out the reference to requiring the new chief come from within HPD, as well as the language suggesting the Council would do what is necessary.

Elefante met with police commission Executive Officer Dan Lawrence and a representative from Jacobs on Wednesday, and he said he’s confident a chief can be selected by the Nov. 30 target date stated in the resolution. “Hopefully sooner,” he said.

Elefante said he’s glad Martin introduced the resolution. Without a permanent chief in office, the department suffers from a lack of long-term vision and policy, he said.

The resolution is also timely because it offers an opportunity for his committee and the public to get an update from the commission and its staff, he said.