OTTUMWA — As the City of Ottumwa seeks to address its vacancy atop the Ottumwa Fire Department ladder, the city council on Tuesday tabled a discussion after an option opened up to potentially assist the city in that regard.
City administrator Philip Rath brought to the council a proposal for the city to engage with McMahon Associates, a Wisconsin-based firm, on a plan to send experienced fire and EMS officials to the community to consult about the long-range goals of the department, which has been without a chief for almost a year, as Tony Miller retired in September of last year.
However, the proposal was met with some skepticism from councilman Bill Hoffman Jr., who cited the cost — $10,000-$13,000 for four or five days a month — as well as what he saw as morale improvements led by interim chief Pat Short and interim deputy chief David Cronin.
“We know, for any new chief we put in there, there’s going to be some mentorship, but there is a network of people that we can reach out to help with that side. It’s like a brotherhood,” Hoffman Jr. said. “There were a lot of inspections that weren’t done for five or six years, and David and Pat worked together to get those done. They’ve created training. What impresses me is all this stuff is getting done but nobody knows it.”
The idea of having an outside firm come into the city stems from the city’s inability to hire Miller’s permanent replacement, and taking on the administrative role that goes with it. One candidate was offered the job but withdrew, and another wasn’t certified under the civil service procedure. Plus, there was a months-long sexual misconduct investigation last year into the department, hampering any planning.
Both issues were cited as reasons why Rath brought the proposal to the council.
“We have had internal candidates apply for positions and they are not prepared at the current level for that. I think training is good, but that’s only one piece of what this is providing,” Rath said. “They will give us an analysis of not just what equipment we have and anything else that may have been overlooked over the years. It’s a lot more of that administrative side and being able to provide objective analysis of those things.”
Councilwoman Cyan Bossou saw a bigger benefit that extended beyond the fire department.
“I think we keep coming back to the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day within the fire department, and this is about a broader scheme than just the day-to-day things,” she said. “Look at EMS, and we know that’s a situation we’re going to have to address at some point. This company will help us to better prepare for that not just as a fire department, but as a city.”
Short said “we will comply with what the council decides,” but was frustrated when asked by councilman Keith Caviness whether he was familiar with the company.
“I don’t know this company, but I have concerns because there’s a lot of background that they have with consolidation of department services,” he said. “The budget is already tight, but I want to do whatever is going to make our department as good as it can possibly be, and I think there’s lots of things that could have been done along the way. But this is not something I feel happy about.”
Councilman Doug McAntire also didn’t like the proposal, and blamed city administration for “dropping the ball.”
“Tony Miller told the administration a year in advance to the day that he was going to retire and they did nothing to prepare for when he left,” McAntire said. “I think we can do this cheaper, because I think you can get the same mentorship from a retired chief or someone that’s still a fire chief that can come down and help them along the way.”
Rath defended how the search for Miller’s replacement was going before “another little bombshell was dropped on the city.”
“We were in the process of getting somebody in place to do an assessment prior to his leaving. Deputy chief (Cory) Benge resigned before that was even posted, and as far as I could tell, he was brought in to do that,” he said. “I had talked with chief Miller on a couple of occasions to help him prepare for that.
“It’s a little difficult to hire someone when we’re in the middle of an investigation and having somebody come in,” he said. “There were some extenuating circumstances with all of that, whether you want to acknowledge that or not.”
Councilwoman Cara Galloway said the problem goes back to succession planning, something she claimed the city has struggled with over the years.
“I know it was said that we as a city had failed at that, and I think over the last couple years, we’ve been saying that too,” she said. “I think this helps develop and guide and look at the big picture.”
Caviness made the motion to table the topic for a future work session.
“Is it worth over $13,000 for five days (a month), and how long can we afford to pay that?” he asked the other council members. “And then are we giving the fire department what they want? Or, are we just giving them lip service?”
The council unanimously voted to table the item.
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