Nearly eight months after the city’s police chief retired, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle still isn’t ready to name publicly a nominee for the position.

But in private, the mayor has asked for city council support for Kirk Giles, the deputy chief who has served as the acting chief since Mark McMurray retired in March.

“We are pleased with the leadership of Interim Police Chief Kirk Giles and remain proud of the continued hard work of the men and women who serve in our police force,” Battle said in a statement to AL.com this week. “When it comes to appointing a new Chief, we are taking a thoughtful, measured approach on our decision.”

The mayor did not say when he will name a nominee.

Bill Kling, the councilman representing the central part of the city, said he expects the mayor will wait until after the council elects a new president and seats a new member next month.

“I think the scenario you’ll find will be that Kirk Giles will go from acting chief to being formally appointed by the mayor,” Kling told AL.com. “And the feedback you would probably get from the council, I think you would find very positive. I haven’t heard anybody say anything bad.”

David Little, who will replace Frances Akridge as the council member representing east Huntsville next month, said he looks forward to considering whomever the mayor nominates.

“There are a lot of people out there who like Kirk, and I think the public will support him,” Little told AL.com. “But that’s ultimately the mayor’s call.”

In a statement released to AL.com by the city’s communication director, Giles said he is “honored and proud” to be the interim chief.

“We have an exceptional team of men and women working in law enforcement, and I am excited about the high level of professionalism, commitment and progress within our department,” said Giles, who has worked for HPD for more than four decades.

“I remain ready to serve Huntsville police and our community in any capacity the Mayor deems appropriate.”

Giles’ name surfaced as the leading candidate for the nomination after Dewayne McCarver, the deputy chief previously believed to be the front-runner, retired from the police department last month. McCarver, who worked at HPD for more than 27 years, did not respond to a request for comment.

Frances Akridge, the current east Huntsville council member who did not run for re-election, said that Battle asked her last month whether she would vote to confirm Giles for the permanent role. She told AL.com that she initially said yes, but after taking a day to think about it told him she changed her mind.

“I encouraged that he interview all the other deputy chiefs,” said Akridge, adding that she thinks chief candidates should be assessed for promotion in the same way as other department employees.

Scott Hudson and Charles Brooks currently serve under Giles as the department’s deputy chiefs.

Akridge said the city — and the department’s ranks — need a permanent chief to enact long term plans.

To become the permanent chief, the mayor’s nominee will need approval from at least three of the five council members.

John Meredith, the city council president and representative of west Huntsville, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. He previously called for an outside search, noting that the department’s current top leadership includes few people of color and no women.

“I would love for that pool of potential candidates to include people of color and females,” Meredith told AL.com in April. “And frankly that’s part of the reason I would like to see the search expanded — not because I necessarily want to see the next chief be a woman or be a black person or be a Hispanic person, but to give them a chance.”

The mayor still appears poised to nominate someone from inside the department, as he did when naming the past three chiefs. Giles is white. The department has never had a Black person or woman as chief.

“The Mayor has consulted with a wide variety of community members and leaders and will be prepared to make a decision at some point in the future,” Kelly Schrimsher, the city’s director of communication, said in a statement to AL.com this week.

Devyn Keith, who represents north Huntsville, and Jennie Robinson, who represents the city’s south side, did not respond to requests for comment.

Kling said he supports Giles.

“The tenor toward Giles has been neutral to positive,” he said. “Nobody seems to be particularly angry at him, and he’s been involved in a lot of social service activities. He’s well thought of within his department too.”