By Chris Spangler
The Fort Atkinson Police and Fire Commission on Tuesday selected a top contender for the city’s fire/EMS chief position.
The panel unanimously authorized City Manager Rebecca Houseman to make an offer of employment to one of three candidates who were interviewed during the afternoon.
The closed-session meeting, which lasted four hours and 20 minutes, featured hour-long interviews with the trio of applicants. No further details were shared with the media.
“After an offer has been accepted, I’m sure the city will announce the name,” commission Chairperson Philip Jones said.
The hiring process began in July 2023, with 22 applicants from eight different states for the position left open by the June 23 retirement of Fire Chief Daryl Rausch. Thirteen applications were reviewed further.
Division Chief Mike Lawrence has served as interim fire chief since Rausch left to become emergency services director in Otsego, Minn., after nearly seven years in Fort Atkinson.
“There has been basically a nationwide search performed that has resulted in candidates throughout the Midwest and Wisconsin,”Jones said. “We’ve had a large pool of candidates and it just takes time to find the right one.”
He said he believes that eight of the applicants were interviewed, including those on Tuesday.
“Our position has been we’re trying to find and recruit the very best candidate to serve the community and fire service,” Jones said.
“This is a very careful and diligent process that we’ve gone through and we’re hopeful that our top candidate will accept, and after we have that information, there will be an announcement,” he added. “It’s been a very thorough process.”
Should the top candidate decline the job offer, Jones noted, “the commission will reconvene and re-evaluate how we proceed from there.”
Tuesday’s meeting originally had been scheduled for Jan. 12, but was postponed due to a snowstorm.
In July, the city council hired the Illinois-based firm GovHR USA to assist the city in its search for a new fire/EMS chief at a cost of $26,000. City officials stated at the time that they anticipated the recruitment process would take between three and four months.
Within its 15-page proposal, GovHR USA outlined a six-phase process, including a 14-week timeline to complete the contracted work. However, it stretched much longer.
On several occasions, Fort Atkinson Online requested information about the applicants being interviewed, but was not provided any and was told that the process was “ongoing.” The online news site also submitted an open records request to which the city did not respond.
In addition to Jones, members of the city’s Police and Fire Commission include Jeanne Delacruz-Raub, Dick Schultz, Russell Turk and Megan Hartwick.
The Fort Atkinson Police and Fire Commission on Tuesday adjourns after a four hour, 20-minute closed session. The panel interviewed three candidates after which it authorized the city manager to make a job offer to a top candidate for fire/EMS chief. Chris Spangler photo.
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