Susan Jones, former Healdsburg cop, to serve as acting chief of Cloverdale Police Department

Susan Jones, a former Healdsburg police chief and 34-year law enforcement veteran, is now acting chief of the 22-member Cloverdale Police Department, filling in while Chief Mark Tuma is on paid leave pending an investigation of undisclosed matters.

Tuma was placed on leave last week by City Manager Paul Cayler, prompting calls for Cayler’s removal at the March 11 City Council meeting. The council took no action, since the matter was not on the agenda, and Cayler said at the time he could not discuss personnel matters.

Cayler said Wednesday the investigation involves “alleged misconduct” and that he is not allowed by law to elaborate.

Jones, who started work March 10, said she got a call from Cayler asking if she would step in - to “provide leadership and direction,” she said - for an indefinite period. Under state retirement rules, she can work in Cloverdale through only the end of the year.

“I know the department is a good department with some very fine people in it,” said Jones, 58.

Jones receives 90 percent of her $150,000 a year Healdsburg salary in retirement, and is being paid $60.10 an hour for the Cloverdale job.

She served as chief in Healdsburg - 18 miles south of Cloverdale - for nine years, retiring in July 2010, and subsequently served a single term on the Healdsburg City Council. Jones also served as acting police chief for six months in Cotati in 2010 and for six months in Calistoga in 2012.

The Calistoga job was supposed to be her last, Jones said, noting that she had purchased a recreational vehicle in February and intended to start touring the United States. Cloverdale, with about 8,500 residents, was the only place she would take another police job because it is close to her home in Healdsburg and familiar to her, Jones said.

The Cloverdale job has some new wrinkles, including management of the airport and animal control agency, she said.

The commute from Healdsburg to Cloverdale is brief and the scenery is “beautiful,” she said.

Cloverdale has 10 sworn officers, five dispatchers, two community service officers and a technical services manager. The department has three vacancies, following the retirement of two sergeants and the departure of an officer who took a job in Novato, Jones said.

The force currently has a sergeant and an acting sergeant, with no other ranks between them and the chief.

Jones said the Cloverdale inquiry is being conducted by an independent investigator under Cayler’s direction. She said she has “no idea” how long it might take.

Cayler said Wednesday that he could not give a timeline for the investigation.

“We want to get this done as quickly and methodically as possible,” he said.

Jones began her career as a Kern County sheriff’s deputy in 1979 at a time when women were a rarity in law enforcement. She came to Healdsburg in 2001 as the first female police chief in Sonoma County and the fifth in California.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.