CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Some progress has been made in the search for a new chief of the Charlottesville Police Department. The city formally announced the three finalists for the police chief job on Monday.

"It's been hard and there is a lot of angst in it," said City Councilor Brian Pinkston.

On Monday, the Police Civilian Oversight Board hosted a candidate forum. The members of the Charlottesville City Council were in attendance, including Pinkston.

"But I am confident we are going to get to something that is going to be a good solution for the whole community," he said.

The first finalist is a familiar face.

"I want to be a part of moving our department forward," said current interim Chief Tito Durrette.

He's been the interim chief since December 2021 and has worked in the department for 30 years. He began as a patrol officer in 1993. Durrette has college credits from Piedmont Virginia Community College, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.

Michael Kochis is the current chief of police for the Warrenton Police Department.

"We really need to start involving the community in what we do," he said during the forum.

He also served in the Alexandria Police Department for 15 years. He has a master’s in public safety from UVA and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia Southern University.

The third finalist is Easton McDonald, a current member of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

"Now that I am in the profession, I see it as a noble profession," McDonald said.

He is a major division commander in Loudoun County, where he has worked in various positions since 2001. McDonald holds a masters in investigations from the University of New Haven and a bachelor’s degree from the Ramapo College of New Jersey.

In 2014, McDonald mistook his daughter as an intruder and shot her when she snuck in past her curfew, which interim City Manager Michael Rogers says wasn't necessary to bring up during the forum.

"That's not something that he was criminally liable for and it doesn't bear on his judgment at all. So I don't think it should have been," said Rogers.

Candidates were asked a series of questions submitted by the community and compiled by the PCOB, which will also ran the event.

"We have three candidates who have been through a very extensive process," said Rogers.

The job has been open since Chief RaShall Brackney, who was in attendance Monday night, was fired that was back in 2021. It's part of a major upheaval in city leadership positions in the last few years.

Whoever gets the job will be the third chief since 2017.