Rural CA Fire District Picks New Chief from Within

The Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District board has promoted an in-house candidate as the permanent fire chief.

The district board gave the job to former Capt. Michael Whorton after more than two dozen candidates were considered. A two-year employment contract with Whorton was approved on a 5-0 vote Thursday. He took over as fire chief Monday.

The contract pays Whorton a $135,000 annual salary, plus medical benefits, a district-paid $100,000 life insurance policy and retirement benefits through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

About 15 months ago, the fire district board voted to terminate former Chief Rick Weigele amid a storm of controversy. Weigele, a 26-year fire service veteran, worked six months for Stanislaus Consolidated and was a third chief to go through a revolving door at the rural district.

Before Weigele, two previous chiefs spent eight months and 18 months on the job, respectively.

Susan Zanker, district board president, said 27 applications were received from candidates during a recruitment over the summer, including some from out of state. A panel made up of district board members and representatives from the city of Oakdale, Oakdale’s rural fire district and Waterford interviewed the top candidates, Zanker said.

“Mike knows the agency and knows all the surrounding agencies we work with,” Zanker said. “He is committed to Stanislaus Consolidated and the partners we serve. It should be a fairly short learning curve for him.”

Whorton has been with the district since its inception in 1995 and has more than 30 years in the fire service. Starting as a volunteer in Riverbank in 1987, he advanced through the ranks as a firefighter, investigator and captain.

“I look forward to working for the taxpayers of our district and the communities we serve, and hopefully we can move things forward,” Whorton said Monday.

The sprawling district, with nine stations and 80 employees, provides emergency services in Riverbank, Oakdale, Empire, Waterford, Hickman, La Grange and unincorporated areas of Modesto. Deputy Chief Michael Wapnowski was appointed in November 2017 to serve as acting chief after Weigele’s departure.

In October 2017, dozens of people including local government officials came to Weigele’s defense at board meetings and demanded more stable leadership from the agency and its appointed board. Stanislaus Consolidated is geographically the largest fire district in the county and has cooperative agreements with numerous local agencies.

“We very much want stability in our leadership,” Zanker said. “We chose an internal candidate who has already demonstrated his commitment to this district.”

The city of Oakdale has recently proposed a structural change to agreements with Stanislaus Consolidated by which fire protection is provided in and around Oakdale.

One proposed option is a joint powers authority including Consolidated, Oakdale Fire Proteciton District and the city. Another option proposed in a Dec. 4 letter from Oakdale City Manager Bryan Whitemyer is a JPA including Modesto, Oakdale, the rural Oakdale district and Stanislaus Consolidated, with city council members and board members from each agency serving on the JPA board.

Under that option, each member agency would have a vote on administrative decisions, the budget and labor agreements. The city of Oakdale’s current five-year contract with Consolidated expires June 30.

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