MONROE — The City of Monroe is moving a little closer to hiring a new fire chief, having secured about 20 candidates for the position since the application process was reopened in August.

That’s according to City Administrator Brittney Rindy, who addressed the issue during the Monday, Oct. 2, common council regular meeting. The matter also appears as both open and closed-session items on the Oct. 5 agenda for the meeting of the city’s police and fire commission.

Closed-session items are allowed under state law to discuss matters related to personnel. But Rindy said the next move — related to interviewing potential candidates and other logistics of the ongoing search — is up to the commission and council.

“Where we will go next really depends on what they (the commission) decide on Thursday,” she said. “This is really a first-step in the process.”

The commission last August voted to open the application process after it had been closed for nearly a year, as the search for a new fire chief was on hold while a city committee looked at potential changes to the operations and structure of Monroe’s Fire Department.

Ultimately, an ad-hoc committee formed to address fire department issues disbanded, making several recommendations but taking no formal action and deciding to leave the structure of the all-volunteer department intact.

The City of Monroe has been without a full-time fire chief since April 2022 after William Erb abruptly resigned three months into the job. At the time, according to then-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.”

Al Rufer was named interim fire chief shortly after, his second time in the role as interim fire chief, and he continues in that leadership role.

The city recently released a detailed job description for the chief prepared by Rufer.

In another matter related to the fire department, Ald. Kyle Knoll requested that the council place on its agenda whether to consider future retired firefighters who retire as regular city employees for benefit purposes.

Acknowledging the recent swearing-in ceremony for new fire department recruits, he pointed out the immense contribution volunteer firefighters have made to the city over many years of dedicated service. 

Knoll said he determined that, since about 2016, the fire department has lost 28 members to resignations or retirements, many of them senior personnel. The number of years of service cumulatively adds up to about 485 years, he determined.

Ald. Tom Miller agreed and said consideration of the fire department staff for regular employee retirement status is a “good idea” and should be considered on a future common council agenda.

“They do a great job for the city and it takes away from their time with family,” Miller said.

The fire chief search is a difficult one, as municipal governments nationwide are struggling to recruit and hire new first-responders.