MONROE — Despite some hiccups, including the loss of a new fire chief after just a few months, city officials are moving forward with plans to interview five candidates to lead the struggling fire department into a new future.
And, during an Oct. 3 joint meeting with the city council and the city police and fire commission, they acknowledged the difficulty of finding someone. The also received confirmation that, according to PFC Chair Charles Koch, the reason for the abrupt resignation of the newest chief, William Erb of Iowa, “was directly related to the turmoil in the fire department.”
Officials didn’t elaborate on the turmoil, but the department has a lengthy history of leadership woes and dissension in its ranks. Following a long search, Erb abruptly resigned from his new post on Monday, April 11 — just 3 months and 1 day after taking the job.
Meanwhile, the department has had 3 permanent fire chiefs resign in 7 years. Al Rufer has served twice as interim chief. Daryl Rausch was chief for 11 years, leaving in 2016. Lane Heins was the interim chief until Dan Smits was hired, eventually serving for four years, ending in August 2021. Rufer took over as interim chief a year ago until Erb joined the department; and then again after Erb’s resignation.
The issue came to a head at the Sept. 19 meeting of the council, during which Ald. Chris Schindler questioned a motion to add a $7,500 payment onto the roughly $25,000 charged thus far by GOVHR, the company that helped Monroe search for and hire Erb.
“I’m just curious why we would have additional charges when we were already told there would be no changes, since our last candidate didn’t last the required year,” said Ald. Schindler. “Are they going to guarantee that the next will last a year?”
That subsequent decision by the council not to provide the additional funding left the PFC to move forward with chief interviews without the use of an updated “assessment center” that they initially requested to help further review the candidates.
GOVHR is continuing to work with Monroe under the original agreement, which provided a guarantee if the candidate did not stay in the new job for a year, officials said.
According to Koch, one of six potential finalists for chief withdrew their application after the city voted against funding the assessment center, leaving five that are going to sit for virtual interviews in the weeks and months ahead by the PFC.
A total of 28 people applied for the job, from nine states, Koch told the council. Seven of the candidates were from Wisconsin, and two were international applicants.
The council also was given a refresher course on the role of the Police and Fire Commission, as outlined in Wisconsin law, and how it works with city councils and mayors in the hiring process.
The presentation was “to make sure everybody is on the same page…and whose lane is whose,” in the hiring process and in the management of police and fire personnel generally, said Madison-based attorney Steven Zach, who specializes in PFC and city issues.
The state established police and fire commissions over a 100 years ago, he said, to help protect the selection process, as corruption had occurred in the past.
“It’s a necessary provision to remove certain aspects of the oversight for police and fire departments,” and to guard them against “political control,” he said.
In 2019, prompted by a petition complaining about leadership from the fire department’s rank and file members, the city formed a committee to help lead an internal investigation. An 18-page report, completed by former city administrator Phil Rath and City Attorney Dan Bartholf, addressed matters, but concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to support action against them.
The report noted the investigative process included about 50 hours of interviews and fact gathering. “…this document serves as a record of the internal review and accompanying recommendations to improve systemic issues within the Monroe Fire Department, which appear to have existed for decades…,” according to the report.
The firefighters’ complaints to the city included questions regarding use of the Merit Center, convert about a lack of respect and communication from the fire chiefs to department members, issues of safety during fire calls, issues with how fire scenes are managed and others. The report also noted a lack of respect from part-time fire department officers toward the chiefs.
“In fact, aside from the initial letter there were few issues raised regarding the deputy chief and a majority of ‘claims’ regarding the chief were embellished and overly-sensationalized,” according to the report.
Still the report, didn’t appear lead to any substantive change. Some alderman criticized the probe, saying the report wasn’t thorough enough and completed in a hasty manner.