By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch The job of police chief in Eatonville is going back to full-time. The Town Council has approved a proposal from Mayor Mike Schaub to hire a chief on a contract basis from the ranks of the Pierce County Sheriff Department. The position has been filled since last year on an interim basis by a sheriff officer who splits his time between the town duties and his county role. Having a full-time chief will cost the town $140,000 per year in salary and benefits under a two-year agreement that will begin next January and end in December 2017. The Sheriff Department will recommend candidates and eventually pick the chief, subject to Schaub's approval. Council members voted 4-1 on Nov. 9 to approve the contract, which they and the county will have the option of renewing when it expires in two years. Schaub believes the arrangement is best for the development of Eatonville's four-officer Police Department. He also has said there is no plan for the town to receive all of its police service from the county, as was once proposed by then-mayor Ray Harper but rejected by the council. The cities of Edgewood and University Place receive all of their police services through Pierce County. Eatonville, however, will continue to provide its own officers. Eatonville's interim chief, Jim Heishman, has also come from the county on a contract basis. He replaced Jason McGuire, who was the full-time chief beginning in 2012 until he asked to return to regular patrol duty in 2014. Heishman heads the Sheriff Department's Mountain Detachment, which is based in Eatonville's Town Hall. The unit has 18 deputies assigned to southeast Pierce County. T
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