MONROE -- A committee created by the Monroe Common Council to review the “operations and structure” of the city’s fire department has finished its work and issued recommendations, but no sweeping changes are being called for.
The committee presented a list of eight recommendations to the council at its regular May 15 meeting. They include a move to create a new strategic plan for the department using a third-party consultant; and for more communication and cooperation between Monroe Fire and the Monroe Rural Fire Protection District.
Mayor Donna Douglas, who called for the committee to be formed after the search for a new fire chief continued without success, said the committee has served its purpose in opening the lines of communication between the department and city leaders; and with the public generally.
“This is something that was long overdue and brought things out more clearly,” said Douglas.
Other recommendations, presented by committee chair Heidi Treuthardt, include a call for the department to provide quarterly updates and to follow a communications policy through which concerns are first directed to relevant department heads and the city administrator prior to airing criticisms in public.
Among the more concrete recommendations is completion of an ongoing effort to implement a fire inspection program for Monroe.
Potential changes mentioned when the committee was formed last year included possibly partnering with other departments to create a fire district to better share resources and even consideration of creating a full-time department with staff who are no longer volunteers. Instead, the committee is recommending a new emphasis on planning and resumption of the fire chief search, once a new job description has been drafted and approved.
That effort would include more specifics on the required experience, education requirements and other criteria for the new chief. And, they said, a revision of the job description is long overdue.
“It has been several years,” said Ald. Mary Jane Grenzow, who also chairs the city salary and personnel committee. “It’s always a good idea to review these things.”
One of the recommendations proffered at the meeting was to disband the ad-hoc committee, now that its work is complete. But Ald. Andrew Kranig encouraged officials to wait.
“I just don’t want to see it (disbanded) right away and then the work just fades away,” Kranig said.
Following a long search, Monroe’s most recent chief, William Erb of Iowa, abruptly resigned from his new post on Monday, April 11 of last year — just 3 months and 1 day after taking the job. Once a new chief is hired, it will be the seventh person in charge of the department over the past seven years.
When a renewed search failed to produce a new chief candidate after months of effort, Douglas proposed the committee’s creation to clarify the department’s structure and operations before seeking new leadership.
According to Police and Fire Commission Chair Charles Koch, the reason for the abrupt resignation of the newest Monroe chief “was directly related to the turmoil in the fire department.”
Hiring for the chief’s job is the role of the police and fire commission, and prior to the committee’s creation, some officials have complained about the pace of their effort; and the cost to find a replacement chief, which is financed by the city.
But officials credited interim Fire Chief Al Rufer with making significant progress in recent months at addressing lingering issues in the fire department and getting the fire inspection program closer to completion. The committee also surveyed present and past fire department members as part of its work.
“This really helped clear the air,” said Douglas. “We needed to do something.”
