Decatur's Search for Chief Goes Back to Drawing Board

Feb. 25--After scheduling interviews for a new fire chief twice and canceling them twice, the Decatur City Council decided Monday to re-advertise the position and start over.

At a work session, Council President Gary Hammon said he did not expect interviews for the position -- which has been vacant since Sept. 30 -- to take place for at least six weeks.

"This has turned into a mess," Hammon said. "We shouldn't even have touched these (applications) yet. These should have already been culled."

Hammon said the Personnel Department will review the next batch of applications and dismiss any that do not meet minimum requirements. In another change from the system used in the two aborted selection processes, Hammon said Mayor Don Kyle and Personnel Director Ken Smith will propose five to 10 candidates to the council.

Earlier Monday, Councilman Charles Kirby proposed starting the search process over.

"We've got a number of problems, one of which is public perception," Kirby said. "The process started limping immediately because of an ethics violation. Since then there's been questions raised about the qualifications and accreditations (of finalists). In my opinion, the process should start over."

The council has been under public pressure to interview the only internal applicant, Decatur Fire and Rescue Division Chief Lorenzo Jackson, a 33-year veteran of the department. Jackson's status as a candidate was not mentioned directly during a work session, but he often was referenced.

"We don't always select who certain people think we should, so it looks like a comedy of errors, when actually it's just trying to get five people to agree on a list of 41," Hammon said.

Both Kyle and Hammon said they prefer an outside candidate to fill the chief position.

"When we did our initial listings, one of my key interests was somebody from outside," Kyle said. "I think we need new blood."

Hammon echoed the statement: "I think some new blood might be a good idea."

Councilman Roger Anders said criticism of the council for not including Jackson as a finalist was unfair.

"We get beat up about this, but the school system hires principals from outside the system all the time," Anders said. "It's not always best to promote from within your ranks. Just because he's moved up for whatever reason through the ranks doesn't mean he's the best person to promote."

Decatur City Schools Superintendent Ed Nichols said last week that Jackson, an Austin High School graduate, should be interviewed. Nichols said the internal candidate deserved an opportunity, but the best candidate should get the job. Nichols was the assistant superintendent before being promoted.

Kirby said the only way to restore public confidence in the search process is to start over.

"That's part of why I want to start over, to have transparency and to give the people faith in the process," Kirby said. "I don't know that we're in a rush to get a chief."

Whether there is urgency to hire a chief, or at least for the mayor to appoint an interim chief, became a subject of debate. Since the departure of former Chief Darwin Clark, the two division chiefs -- Jackson and Janice Johnson -- have been running the department.

Hammon said he had talked to Kyle after hearing concerns from firefighters about the need to have a single person in charge of the department.

"You told me you had talked to the two (division) chiefs that were in charge and that everything was running smoothly," Hammon said to Kyle. "Then I read in The Daily the statement that nobody has talked to the mayor and nothing is running smoothly."

Jackson said last week he worked well with Johnson, but there were some conflicts and a lack of direction because the mayor had not appointed one of the division chiefs as an interim. He said Kyle had not met with him on fire department matters since the former chief resigned in September.

"I've met with both Mr. Jackson and Ms. Johnson together on one occasion," Kyle said. "I've had numerous emails going back and forth between myself and Division Chief Johnson. I've had inquiries from Chief Jackson and to my knowledge we've addressed the issues. As far as day-to-day service, I don't know that there's been any lessening of service whatsoever."

Decatur Fire and Rescue Lt. Roger Richardson said the department needs an interim chief.

"Right now they're not making all the decisions they need to make," Richardson said. "I'm not saying they're not doing their jobs, but there's really no one in charge."

Kyle said he would meet with Jackson and Johnson.

Lt. Allen Tapscott asked the council to recognize that some external candidates who appear qualified may not be well-suited for the position.

"Decatur is a unique city," Tapscott said. "We have a lot of industry. We carry the railroad services. We have a lot of chemical plants here. Outside chiefs come here, and when they get here, they're out of their element. On paper everyone looks good. But this department does need leadership, and we need it now. If we have a disaster tonight, who ultimately is the person in charge? We need one person."

Hammon and Anders said they would like to see the Personnel Department take a more active role in eliminating candidates who obviously are not qualified for the job.

Smith said the procedure followed for the fire chief vacancy is the same procedure he has followed for years, and usually it works well.

"We've used this same system many times," Smith said. "The directors who are in place (in city departments) were for the most part hired under this exact same process. It's worked well. It's an unusual event to have this many qualified people and for the council to be so diverse in their attraction to the specific applicants. Normally you gravitate toward three or four sterling candidates."

Smith said he would contact the 41 applicants and request that they re-submit their applications if they remain interested in the job. He also will post new advertisements in regional and national publications.

Last month, the City Council selected four finalists and scheduled them for interviews. They canceled the interviews when the director of the state Ethics Commission said Councilman Billy Jackson was in violation of state law by participating in the selection process because his brother, Lorenzo, was a candidate.

Without Billy Jackson's participation, the council came up with a list of three finalists who were to be interviewed Monday. One candidate withdrew his name because he said he had obtained another job. Another said he was too busy to attend the interview. Hammon canceled the interviews because only one candidate planned to show up.

The annual salary for the fire chief will be between $63,000 and $106,000. Smith said the mayor will negotiate the salary with the preferred candidate, subject to council approval. Clark made $83,755.

Eric Fleischauer can be reached at 256-340-2435 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DD_Fleischauer">@DD_Fleischauer.

Fire chief finalists, Take 3

Take 1

Last month, after three straw polls, the Decatur City Council narrowed 41 applications to four finalists who were invited to interview for the position. The finalists:

--Decatur Fire and Rescue Division Chief Lorenzo Jackson, a 33-year veteran of the department.

--Steven Cross, coordinator of the Tennessee Commission on Firefighting Personnel Standards and Education and a former deputy chief of the fire department in Columbia, Tenn.

--Mark Herendeen, who has been chief of the fire department of Morrow, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, since 2005.

--Floyd "Buddy" Wilks Jr., who has been a battalion chief at Birmingham Fire and Rescue since 2011.

Take 2

After rejecting the January finalists when the director of the state Ethics Commission said Councilman Billy Jackson's participation violated state law because his brother, Lorenzo Jackson, was a candidate, the City Council on Feb. 10 selected three finalists and scheduled them for interviews. The finalists:

--Daniel Gaumont, formerly fire chief of the Keller, Texas, fire department, who since has withdrawn his application.

--Birmingham Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Floyd "Buddy" Wilks Jr.

--Robert Lands of Raeford, N.C., an employee of the corrections department in North Carolina and formerly a fire inspector in Afghanistan for DynCorp International. Lands said he was too busy to attend interviews scheduled for Monday.

Take 3

With Gaumont withdrawing his application and Lands canceling his interview, and in the midst of political pressure to interview Lorenzo Jackson, the City Council again canceled interviews.

On Monday, the council decided to start the search process from the beginning. Personnel Director Ken Smith said he would again purchase advertisements in regional and national publications. Interviews will not take place for at least six weeks.

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