Oct. 26 -- Candidates vying to be Austin's next fire chief laid out their views and goals Thursday night at a town hall meeting, where the public's questions centered on connections with the community, working with the firefighters union, and increasing racial and gender diversity in the Fire Department.
As many as 84 people had applied for the fire chief's position, and this week city officials narrowed the list down to retired Atlanta Fire Chief Joel Baker, Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin, and Fire Chief Kevin McGee of Prince William County, Va.
One of the three men will replace former Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr, the city's first woman in the job, who left Austin this summer to join a South Florida fire department.
City Manager Spencer Cronk will ultimately decide who to hire and he expects to make a decision by the end of the year. The new chief will oversee 1,151 sworn firefighters, 106 civilian staffers and an annual operating budget of almost $200 million.
Baker retired as the chief of the Atlanta Fire Department in February after rising through the department's ranks for 30 years. During the financial recession of 2008, Baker said he took a temporary demotion from assistant fire chief to section fire chief.
"This decision resulted in saving several critical positions," Baker told the audience at Town Lake Center in South Austin. "That was the right thing — at the right time — to do. ... Working through these challenging times, and assisting in the development of budget-reduction strategies prepared me to become the fire chief for the city of Atlanta."
Baker said he believes it's extremely important to establish a relationship with labor unions and city officials. He added that, if selected, he would establish a diversity and inclusion initiative, designed to recruit more women and people of color.
Austin hires firefighters under U.S. Justice Department consent decree provisions, which were put in place after federal investigators said they found evidence that the Fire Department's 2012 and 2013 hiring processes had discriminated against African-American and Hispanic candidates. Under the decree, the Justice Department has oversight over the Austin's hiring process and can limit the applicant pool if authorities find evidence of a disparate effect on a particular group.
"It's through difficult conversation, compromises and hard work that the office of the fire chief will work with the citizens of Austin, the union, fraternal organizations, and all personnel of the Austin fire department," Baker said. "We'll create an environment of inclusion where everyone will have the ability and opportunity to achieve success. As your fire chief, we will build an ethical workplace that mirrors the community we serve."
Landin, Laredo's fire chief, also serves as emergency management coordinator for the city and has been with the Laredo Fire Department for 28 years. He also was as a state representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters.
He stressed that he was the most qualified of the three candidates because he's from Texas and familiar with the culture and laws in the state. Landin said he is bilingual and gave a few parts of his speech in Spanish.
"The learning curve for me here in your community will minimal," Landin said. "I understand collective bargaining very, very well. I negotiated multiple contracts — both on the firefighter side of the table and on the city side of the table. So I understand collective bargaining laws very well in Texas."
All the candidates, including Landin, stressed that they would strive to build relationships within the Austin Fire Department and with the outside community.
"As your fire chief, I'm committed to interacting with everybody — all employees and all people within the community. ... I will be accessible, and I don't travel a lot," Landin said. "So you're going to see a lot of me here in Austin."
McGee, the chief of the Prince William County Fire Department, said he is eager to learn from the community. A fire chief "must be a chief consensus-builder," he said.
"I do have a request for the citizens of Austin: Please let us know how we're doing," he said. "Please let us know how we're doing. Your input to us is critically important. If we provide service to you, let us know how we did."
He also seeks out feedback within his department. McGee said he learned more about the culture at his department after a female firefighter in a neighboring jurisdiction — who was being harassed — committed suicide. Afterward, McGee said he sent an email to everyone in his department, asking if anyone experienced any harassment.
He received two comments from women that led him to develop a task force to look into and address gender discrimination at his department, he said. He also plans to conduct an equity audit within his department.
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