In the homestead, in private industry, and even in municipal operations, the question holds about fixing something that isn’t broken.
Marcel Michaels, the town’s CAO, was appointed in April to the role of acting fire chief. Council asked then that staff present a follow-up report by the end of this month to assess the status of the arrangement and to determine any necessary next steps.
The town saved as much as $12,000 every month since mid-April with Michaels in the position.
In a report to council at its Aug. 11 meeting, it was recommended that municipal administration staff start the process to recruit an interim fire chief.
Upon successful recruitment, a bylaw is to be brought forward to a future council meeting to confirm the appointment. The recommendation gives administration the direction to look internally and externally for a suitable candidate.
Councillor Michael Behan asked what changed in the last months that council had to revisit the issue.
“Reading the report, does it sound like it’s a bigger workload than you anticipated?” he said. “Is it too broad or vast and you need more expertise at this stage in the game?”
“I think it’s just a combination (that) we’re in a unique situation, obviously, looking to hire an interim fire chief and not a permanent fire chief,” Michaels said. “I’m not the long-term solution for the fire chief.”
Given the fire department’s needs, the long-term interim approach is better suited for somebody else, Michaels said.
“This was an opportunity to bridge that gap, assess, and then take some time and bring in somebody else,” he said. “Not a lot has changed but, at the same time, nothing has changed. Meaning we have to do something more permanent.”
Coun. John McTaggart asked how long a search for a candidate will be.
“We’ll take our time with this,” Michaels said. “We’re in constant contact with the captains. I think things are manageable at this time.”
He speculated that it could take four to eight weeks at the most before a candidate is in place.
If an employee already employed by the town, an internal candidate, were to accept the interim fire chief job, Coun. Bill Morrison asked if another individual would need to be hired to fill the vacated job.
“More than likely we would have to fill that in but that would be a negotiation with the union,” Michaels said.
Such considerations as term length for the interim chief would be determined in cooperation with the bargaining unit, the union, he said.
Coun. Steven Maki asked how long it is anticipated the town would have a fire chief in an interim capacity, whether that person is Michaels or another person.
“Is this for a few more months, six months, a year?” Maki said. “What can we expect from this?”
“I guess my best answer is there’s no timeline,” Michaels said. “I can’t say with any accuracy whether it would be one month or 20 months. That’s the challenging part of hiring an interim at this time. It is case by case.”