New fire chief choice down to three
Published on April 4th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - Town Administrator David Ragucci plans to name a new Fire Chief to replace retired Chief Lawrence Lamey within the next 30 to 60 days.
According to Ragucci, he has designated Human Resources Coordinator Betty Luciano, who works directly under the Town Administrator, to form a search committee to conduct preliminary rounds of interviews with three candidates for the post.
That search group is expected to convene for the first time next week, although that initial meeting date had not been finalized as of presstime on Tuesday.
During its first gathering, the search committee will likely deliberate over what its deciding criteria should be when considering what qualities are most desirable in a new fire chief, according to Luciano.
According to Ragucci, while he will let the search committee come to its own conclusions, he is personally looking for a candidate with a wealth of educational background and direct experience with firefighting.
"We're looking for someone with fire experience and an educational background not only on a college level, but with other programs and certifications," the Town Administrator remarked in a phone interview this week.
"No, that doesn't make a difference to me," Ragucci added, when asked if he had a preference for hiring someone within the town or from an outside municipality.
According to Luciano, three candidates have filed applications with Ragucci's office to be considered for the top fire department position. The deadline for filing that paperwork expired on March 23. Although The Stoneham Independent requested the identity of those three candidates, as they would likely be considered finalists in the selection process, Ragucci was reluctant to give-out the names before the applicants were notified of that release.
"We're going to interview all three people, and hopefully that should begin sometime next week," said Luciano. In mid-March, advertisements were reportedly posted in local newspapers, the internet, and a trade newsletter website. Although the town has created a Fire Chief salary range between $84,764 and $100,758, the annual pay of the finalist is negotiable. According to Luciano, the search committee formed by the Town Administrator will likely consist of three members, herself, a retired Stoneham fire chief, and a current fire chief serving in another community. Although the human resources and benefits coordinator did have particular search committee representatives in mind, she declined to identify those persons until they had actually accepted an invitation to partake in the process.
"We'll do the interviews and then we'll make a recommendation to Dave. Either he agrees with us or he doesn't."
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