Correction: A tentative date for the next Police and Fire Commission meeting is set for June 27 and not June 29 as earlier reported. FAO regrets the error.
By Kim McDarison
The Fort Atkinson Police and Fire Commission (PFC) during its meeting earlier this month and having accepted the retirement of Fire Chief Daryl Rausch, has appointed Division Chief Mike Lawrence to serve as interim fire chief.
Rausch’s last day on the job will be Friday, June 23.
Lawrence will serve in that position until a new chief is hired, City Manager Rebecca Houseman told Fort Atkinson Online in a recent email.
In addition, during the commission’s June 1 meeting, it directed the city manager to release a request for proposals to recruitment firms to provide assistance with the recruitment process.
“After proposals are received and reviewed, the PFC will likely make a recommendation to the city council to hire a firm,” Houseman stated.
In a letter to Houseman, announcing his desire to retire, Rausch wrote that he has served as the city’s fire chief and emergency management director for nearly seven years.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the city of Fort Atkinson, overseeing the operations of the fire department and emergency management. I am proud of the progress we have made in ensuring community safety and well-being. Together, we have accomplished significant milestones, including completion of our new facility and the establishment of a state-of-the-art EMS service,” Rausch wrote.
He thanked Houseman for her “leadership and vision,” calling her “instrumental in our department’s success.”
A four-page job description for the position of fire chief was among items included in the June 1 PFC meeting packet.
Broadly, the document states, the fire chief, as the department’s chief administrator, is responsible for policy development, control, supervision and program implementation for the department.
“The fire chief is accountable for the effective delivery of fire services to the community,” the document states.
In a document titled: “Request for Proposal for Executive Search Firm for the Recruitment and Selection of a Full-Time Fire Chief, the scope of work to be performed by an executive search firm is outlined.
The request notes that firms interested in submitting proposals for consideration must do so by Friday, June 23.
The document further indicates that the next meeting of the PFC, during which proposals submitted in response to the request for proposals will be reviewed, is anticipated to be held Tuesday, June 27.
A recommendation on which the city council could take action could be presented to the body by Thursday, July 6. While the city council is regularly scheduled to meet on Tuesdays, in July, the first Tuesday occurs during the Fourth of July holiday and has therefore been scheduled for the following Thursday.
Within its request, the city has asked each firm, proposing to provide services, to produce a written document, outlining costs associated with conducting an executive recruitment campaign on behalf of the city for the position of fire chief.
Under a heading of “scope of services,” the request notes that the successful firm will, among its duties, work in conjunction with the PFC and city manager, and will perform such duties as meeting with the PFC members and city manager to “ascertain the expected talent, abilities, education, and experience of the selected candidate.”
Tasks also would include reviewing and suggesting updates to the city’s existing fire chief job description. A plan to advertise, recruit and selection an applicant is also among expectations. The selected firm would receive and review all resumes and applications, conduct preliminary screenings of applicants to produce a “short list” of six to 10 qualified candidates.
As stipulated in the document, selected candidates would be accompanied by a written report enumerating their strengths and weaknesses.
A next step would involve assisting the PFC and city manager in narrowing the field of candidates to 4 or 5 semifinalists that would be interviewed by the PFC and city manager.
A final step would include assisting, by providing guidance, in the final selection of a candidate and negotiating employment terms.
The full request for proposals document is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/httpscms8.revize.comrevizefortatkinsonCOFA20FT20Fire20Chief20RFP206.1.23.pdf.
Paid-on-call volunteer EMT and firefighter Capt. Robbie Allard, from left, Fort Atkinson Fire Chief Daryl Rausch and Division Chief Mike Lawrence gather at the Fort Atkinson Fire Station, in 2021, to discuss the work they do and their then-concerns regarding call volume and service sustainability. The discussion was requested by Fort Atkinson Online in advance of then-proposed changes to the city’s EMS services, moving the department from a predominately paid-on-call model to one with an increased number of full-time employees. changes also included bringing EMS services in house as opposed to continuing with services provided through an outside contract. In April of 2022, voters in Fort Atkinson approved a referendum allowing the department to hire 12 full-time employees and bring its EMS service in house. An earlier story about the changes is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-welcomes-a-dozen-new-ems-responders/. Recently, Rausch has announced his retirement, ending his tenure as chief on Friday, June 23. The city’s Police and Fire Commission approved, during a meeting held June 1, the appointment of Lawrence as interim chief. The city is undergoing a request for proposal process to find an executive search firm to help it develop an applicant pool from which to hire a new permanent fire chief. File photo/Kim McDarison.
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