By Kim McDarison
Members of the Fort Atkinson Police and Fire Commission have unanimously authorized City Manager Rebecca Houseman to “negotiate with a candidate,” for the position of fire chief, according to commission meeting minutes released Friday for approval by the Fort Atkinson City Council.
The minutes are included as part of the consent agenda within the city council’s Tuesday, Dec. 5, agenda packet.
The meeting in which the instruction was given was held Friday, Nov. 17.
A consent agenda is a reoccurring housekeeping item on each council agenda during which council members can approve several items with a single vote.
The Police and Fire Commission, as stated within meeting minutes included within the upcoming consent agenda, met most recently on Friday, Nov. 17, Monday, Nov. 20, and Wednesday, Nov. 29.
Information found within commission meeting minutes documenting a meeting held in September, and previously posted to the city’s website, notes that “a total of 22 applications from 8 different states were received timely. After the initial review, 13 applications will continue to be further reviewed.”
Fort Atkinson Online learned in an email from a member of the city’s staff that a group of five individuals were slated to be interviewed for the job in mid-November.
Fort Atkinson Online has requested information about candidates as the commission searches for the city’s next fire chief, a process that began in July after the commission hired GovHR USA, a Illinois-based professional recruitment company which had responded to the city’s request for proposals (RFP) to help with a “fire chief recruitment and selection” process.
The company was hired at a cost of $24,500.
Within its 15-page proposal, the company outlined a six-phase process, including a 14-week timeline to complete the contracted work, describing the process as follows:
• Phase 1, anticipated to take two weeks, during which time the company would perform “interviews and brochure development.”
• Phase 2, anticipated to take four weeks, during which time the company would perform “advertising, candidate recruitment and outreach.”
• Phase 3, anticipated to take three weeks, at which time the company would perform “candidate evaluation and background screening.”
• Phase 4, anticipated to take one week, at which time the company would make a “presentation of recommended candidates.”
• Phase 5, anticipated to take two weeks, at which time the company would perform an “interview process and additional background screening.”
• Phase 6, anticipated to take two weeks, at which time the company would help facilitate the “appointment of a candidate.”
A copy of the full proposal is included within the June 27 meeting of the police and fire commission, found here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/6.27.23-COFA-Police-and-Fire-Commission-Packet.pdf.
After making our initial inquiries about the process and its progression on Nov. 13, Fort Atkinson Online has been told by city officials on at least two occasions that the process is “ongoing.” City officials have been relatively unwilling to speak further about steps taken thus far, or where, in the GovHR outline, the process stands.
On Nov. 13, Public Relations Executive Assistant Sarah Weihert wrote in an email: “There are 5 candidates being interviewed, but names and bios are not being released at this stage in the interview process. We will know more after the interviews on Friday. Feel free to contact us on Monday for additional information.”
On Monday, Nov. 20, Weihert, again, responding by email, wrote: “Thanks for your email. Right now city staff and the Police and Fire Commission are still in the process of the recruitment and are not ready to release any information at this time. We will be sure to share an update when the time is right.”
According to commission meeting minutes submitted for approval as part of Tuesday’s city council meeting, the instruction to the city manager to negotiate with a candidate was given by the commission in open session during the Nov. 17 meeting, after the body convened in closed session to make a “review of applicants for the Fire/EMS Chief position.”
On Monday, Nov. 20, according to a second set of commission meeting minutes offered in the council packet for approval within the consent agenda, the commission met in closed session to make a “review of applicants for the Fire/EMS chief position.”
During the Nov. 20 meeting, the minutes note, the body reconvened in open session and announced that it was prepared to take no action.
The consent agenda further indicates that minutes for the Nov. 29 meeting are included in the council’s packet for approval.
As stated in the minutes offered for approval, the commission made a “review of applicants for the Fire/EMS Chief position.”
The minutes describe no action following the commission’s reconvene in open session, noting only that one member departed from the meeting two minutes before it formally adjourned.
In an interview following the most recent, Wednesday, Nov. 29 meeting, Houseman and Commission member Megan Hartwick told Fort Atkinson Online contributing reporter Chris Spangler that the commission on Wednesday did not set another meeting, and no decision regarding the fire chief position had been made.
Houseman said the commission was still reviewing candidates, while Hartwick stated that the city manager was not a decision-maker in the process. Hartwick next stepped forward to answer Fort Atkinson Online’s questions.
When asked where in the process the commission stood, Hartwick said “We are still in the process of reviewing candidates.”
When asked how many candidates had so far been reviewed, or if the commission had narrowed a large number of candidates down to a smaller group of semifinalists, Hartwick said “That’s part of the whole process. I mean keep in mind, there is no set structure to this, right?”
She said state statutes did not dictate how many candidates a commission needed to interview.
Responding to a question about the process as outlined by GovHR, and whether the search process had identified a full list of applicants, and a subsequent narrowed list, with Spangler asking: “I mean are we talking 20 people? five people? three people? or can you say something like that? Where are we at in that process?” Hartwick responded by saying: “Can I right now? No, because part of that process is still ongoing.”
Spangler asked if the commission had reached a “semifinalist stage.” Her question was in response to information shared on Nov. 13 by a member of the city’s staff that five individuals had been interviewed for the job.
Said Hartwick: “I mean, I don’t know — we may never have semifinalists. There may never be, I mean, it just depends on the results of each phase of the process, what our commission then determines is the next step.”
Said Houseman: “There were interviews, but there will likely be more.”
She added: “I mean we’re not prepared at this point to say if there’s, you know, who’s in or who’s out.”
Hartwick said that she had anticipated that the process to hire a fire chief would be “lengthy.”
She cited the department’s status as “full-time,” saying of the chief’s position: “this is a very important, serious role.”
She wanted to ensure that the “best person” would be identified for the job, she said, adding: “I think the most important message you attach to that, is — is that this is a very, very important, huge role for our city that oversees very, very important work and we don’t feel that it’s important to — the most important part is getting the right person in that position.”
Describing the process, Houseman said: “It’s just sometimes it’s not as linear.”
Some earlier history
A June 27 meeting agenda for the Police and Fire Commission noted the review of an item “relating to proposals for the fire chief recruitment process.”
Minutes published from the commission’s June 1 meeting stated that the commission authorized Houseman to issue an RFP to hire a firm to help with the search for a fire chief, with those proposals due back to the city by June 23. The commission expressed its interest in reviewing the proposals later in June, and making a final recommendation to the city council to hire a firm early in July.
The commission appointed Fort Atkinson Division Chief Mike Lawrence during its June 1 meeting to serve as an interim chief while the process was underway. Lawrence began his interim service on June 23.
On July 31, the commission, according to its meeting agenda, reviewed “revisions to the Fire/EMS chief position description.”
The commission, during its meeting, approved the following changes:
• Bachelor’s degree preferred in fire science, public administration, or closely related field.
• Five years of progressively responsible public safety experience with at least five years management experience at the lieutenant level or above, or any combination of education and experience which provides equivalent knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Must have demonstrated work history of working in a combination paid-on-call and career fire/EMS department.
• A valid Wisconsin motor vehicle operator’s license.
• CPR certification required.
• Considerable knowledge in public safety administration, budgeting, employee relations, contract negotiations, records systems, public relations, and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Wisconsin State Fire Officer I Certification or IFSAC / ProBoard equivalent.
• Wisconsin State Fire Instructor I Certification or IFSAC / ProBoard equivalent.
• Wisconsin State Fire Inspector I Certification or IFSAC / ProBoard equivalent.
• Significant emergency management background with accelerated National Incident Management System (NIMS) training and experience (ICS100, ICS200, ICS300, ICS400, IS700, IS800 preferred).
• Continuous personal education and proficiency enhancement.
• Minimum EMS certification at the EMT-B level.
In September, according to the commission’s agenda, commissioners held a discussion “relating to background, skills, and abilities desired by the Police and Fire Commission for the Fire/EMS chief position and recruitment update.”
The agenda indicated that GovHR Vice President and retired Fire Chief T. E. Sashko would be in attendance to help guide the discussion.
Meeting minutes developed in September noted that “the commission received an update on the submissions for the position. A total of 22 applications from 8 different states were received timely. After the initial review, 13 applications will continue to be further reviewed. The commission then discussed various skills, attributes and experiences of the ideal candidate for the department as (it) consists of a mix of POC and full time staff.”
In October, the commission, according to its agenda, anticipated that it “may consider a motion to convene in closed session pursuant to State Stat. §19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility [review of applications for the Fire/EMS Chief position].”
The review process has continued, according to minutes that became available for review on Friday, during several meetings held in November, with instruction given to the city manager to “negotiate with a candidate” on Friday, Nov. 17.
The names and biographical information of the individual identified for negotiations and the five candidates who were identified as undergoing interviews in November, despite Fort Atkinson Online’s request for such information, has yet to be released by the city.
A link to Tuesday’s city council meeting agenda packet is here: https://cms8.revize.com/revize/fortatkinson/12.5.23%20COFA%20Council%20Packet.pdf.
A link to an earlier story about the search for a fire chief is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-city-officials-not-ready-to-release-any-information-regarding-five-applicants-identified-recently-for-fire-chief-position/.
An earlier story about the city’s decision to hire GovHR is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-hires-recruiting-firm-for-fire-chief-search/.
The above copy from the Nov. 17 Police and Fire Commission meeting minutes notes the commission’s instruction, after reconvening in open session from one that was closed to discuss the Fire/EMS chief position, given to City Manager Rebecca Houseman to “negotiate with a candidate.”
The above email chain documents Fort Atkinson Online’s initial request for information about candidates under consideration for the position of fire chief and the city’s verification that five candidates are “being interviewed.”
The above copy from the Sept. 14 Police and Fire Commission meeting minutes notes the commission’s receipt of 22 applications for the position of fire chief, with 13 identified as progressing within the process for further review. A link to the Sept. 14 commission meeting minutes as published on the city’s website, is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/10.16.23-AMENDED-PUBLIC-Police-and-Fire-Commission-Packet.pdf.
A project timeline, shown above, for recruiting a fire chief in Fort Atkinson as submitted within its proposal by GovHR, the hired consultant to help the city undertake recruitment work, notes a six-phase, 14-week period.
The above summary as produced by GovHR, shows the full cost of the company’s services to execute its 14-week strategy to help the city find its next fire chief. The summary is included within the company’s proposal to the city.
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