Richmond now finds itself looking for a police chief and a schools superintendent in an uncertain political landscape.

Voters will elect a mayor for the next four years Nov. 4, and Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, who hired departing Police Chief Rodney Monroe, has not said whether he's running.

Wilder released a statement yesterday saying he would comment today on Monroe's resignation. City Council President William J. Pantele said it's too soon to talk about the process of finding a new chief.

"I assume we'll work with Rodney on some transition, and the mayor and the [chief administrative officer] will start a process to find us the best police chief we can find," he said.

Monroe is expected to start in Charlotte no later than June 16.

City Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn, public safety committee chairwoman, said she hopes the city can go about finding a new chief in a way that's politically neutral.

"We may want to look at finding another way to find a police chief so the people would come together," she said.

But City Councilwoman Kathy C. Graziano gave her blessing for Wilder to reactivate the search committee that brought Monroe to Richmond three years ago.

"I thought the way he did it last time was excellent," she said. "We got a great police chief, and [the mayor] ought to do it again."

Pantele, who has not revealed whether he intends to run for mayor, sidestepped the question when asked whether the city should wait until the next mayor is known before a permanent successor to Monroe is named.

"That's something that deserves more deliberation," he said. "We're going to have to work together to do what's right for the city."

Dwight Clinton Jones, a state delegate who is running for mayor, said this week that an interim chief should be named immediately but that the appointment of a permanent chief should be left to whoever is elected mayor, after a process that includes considerable public input.

"To do so [sooner] would be a harried process that would not allow for vetting," he said.

Paul Goldman, a former aide to Wilder and another candidate for mayor, said it would be Wilder's prerogative as mayor to decide how quickly a new chief should be named. Goldman said the process that brought Monroe to Richmond four years ago started after Wilder was elected but before he took office.

"It was very successful. We already have the model in place," he said. "It has to have community involvement. . . . You'd want to get the input of Chief Monroe."

Richmond is looking to fill two high-profile jobs. In April, Schools Superintendent Deborah Jewell-Sherman said she would leave by the time her contract expires in June 2009.

Earlier yesterday, before Monroe's move to Charlotte, N.C., was announced, Wilder promised to shield Richmond's police department from budget cuts.

In a statement, Wilder called on the City Council to reject proposed budget amendments that the mayor said would reduce the police budget by $385,000. Pantele said the amendments would have no such impact and that Richmond's year-to-year spending on police would continue to increase.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.