Only one of three finalists vying to become Toledo’s next fire chief reported being extensively questioned about his qualifications to oversee more than 500 firefighters.
Battalion Chief Brian Byrd said he spoke to Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz this week about diversity, budgets, his vision to lead the department, the firefighters’ union, and other topics.
Assistant Chief Karen Marquardt said she brought her resume to a recent meeting with the mayor, assuming she was interviewing for the post. The two never discussed the fire chief job.
And Battalion Chief David Hitt said he didn’t even know he was being eyed as the next possible chief until he received a phone call from the mayor Tuesday, the same day Mr. Kapszukiewicz publicly identified his three finalists.
The mayor did not request resumes from internal candidates, and did not solicit candidates from outside the department. He described the search for the new chief as informal when he revealed the finalists Tuesday.
While the city’s charter allows the mayor to select the next chief at his leisure, Chief Hitt and Chief Marquardt are questioning the process by which the Kapszukiewicz administration is choosing the man or woman who will oversee a fire force that serves a city of nearly 276,500 people.
Councilman Chris Delaney agreed that the decision is ultimately up to the mayor, but he said it was “unusual” for Mr. Kapszukiewicz not to solicit resumes from interested parties.
“How did the candidates become candidates then?” he asked. “To me, it seems odd that there wasn’t an application process.”
Karen Poore, the mayor’s safety director and a deputy chief of staff, said she has no doubt Mr. Kapszukiewicz will make the right decision, and at the end of the day the decision is his and his alone.
“It’s really not a process. I don’t know why everyone keeps talking about a process,” Ms. Poore said. “There is no formal process. There doesn’t have to be a process. It’s the mayor’s decision on who he chooses to be the chief.”
City Council President Matt Cherry said he does not have any issue with the informal nature of the mayor’s interview process and will support his selection.
“I think the mayor has a good handle on the fire department and has talked with a lot of folks who have been around for a long time,” he said.
Mayor Kapszukiewicz previously said he is looking for a candidate he can work with effectively; someone with strong leadership skills and a plan to increase diversity within the department.
The mayor through a spokesman Friday declined to comment further on the matter until a selection has been made.
Chief Hitt said he was called to the mayor’s office in June to discuss a training matter the week before Fire Chief Luis Santiago announced his intention to retire in August. That discussion eventually evolved into an unapparent interview for the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department’s top post, the battalion chief said.
Chief Hitt said he did not bring a resume to the meeting because he didn’t know it was an interview. Then, for nearly a month, he said he had no idea he was being considered for the chief’s position until he received the phone call from the mayor Tuesday.
“I would have expected more direct questions that directly involve me and my experience,” Chief Hitt said. “I would have also expected to know what he was looking for, for it to be made clear what he was looking for. I’m looking for something more formal and I didn’t get that.”
Chief Marquardt said she came prepared with her resume when called to a July 13 meeting with the mayor. She assumed she was interviewing to be the next chief. But during the more than two-hour meeting there was no discussion of the fire chief’s job, her vision for the department, or her plans should she be selected for the position, she said.
She added she was not asked about diversity, policies, her plans, or community involvement: all topics she wanted to discuss.
“There’s some things I really wanted him to know about me. I would love to have the opportunity to run the department as fire chief and not as the assistant chief,” she said.
The mayor did ask about Local 92, the firefighters’ union, and Chief Santiago, she said. The relationship between Chief Santiago and the union has been sour at times. In May, 2015, union members overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the chief, but last December, Chief Santiago and union leaders said they were looking forward to a new year of strengthened working relationships.
Chief Marquardt said she shared with the mayor her opinion of where some of the breakdown between the two parties started. She also said that, although she wants to be the next chief and has for years prepared for the position under Chief Santiago’s guidance, she is not his clone.
“There are many times that I did not go along with Chief Santiago and I did not advertise that. We dealt with that behind closed doors,” she said.
Chief Byrd was the last of the finalists to be interviewed Wednesday, the day a story announcing the candidates was published in The Blade.
He said he was initially called to the mayor’s office about another topic, but he received notification last week that the meeting would also be about the chief’s position. He came to the interview Wednesday with resume in hand.
He said he and the mayor discussed topics like leadership styles, increasing diversity in the department, department finances, the administration’s relationship with the union, increasing EMS responses, contract negotiations, and general responsibilities of the chief.
“It was a very informal, but informative meeting,” Chief Byrd said.
Being fire chief was something he never thought of until recently, he said. When Chief Santiago announced his retirement, he said he was approached by members of the department about the idea.
Chief Byrd can work as a fire employee until December, 2021, when he’s required to retire because of pension plan rules.
Chief Hitt, who said leaders from the African-American community threw his name into the ring for chief, must retire in June per the deferred retirement plan. He said he didn’t think to bring up the retirement issue when he met with Mayor Kapszukiewicz because he didn’t know he was being interviewed.
Had he known he was being considered for the chief’s position, he would have asked the mayor, among other questions, if he could be rehired as chief after his retirement next year.
“The platform wasn’t even there to have that conversation,” he said.
Sylvania Township Fire Chief Michael Ramm and Perrysburg Fire Division Chief Rudy Ruiz, who were appointed to their positions within the past two years, said they went through formal interviews with city administration before they were selected to lead their smaller departments.
Both area chiefs agreed all of the candidates for the Toledo fire chief post are solid choices.
Chief Santiago said his own move into the fire department’s top position was different than the process now playing out in the mayor’s office.
It began with a formal meeting with then-Chief Mike Wolever, who had spent years helping prepare Chief Santiago for the leadership role.
Next Chief Wolever met with then-Mayor Michael Bell. That meeting was followed by a meeting between the mayor and Chief Santiago.
Chief Santiago recently assisted in the process to select Cleveland’s fire chief. He was also part of a deputy chief interview for Cincinnati.
Both positions were filled with structured employment interviews, Chief Santiago said.
Chief Santiago said Mayor Kapszukiewicz has not asked for his recommendation for the next fire chief.
“I guess there’s still time to ask me,” he said. I’m guessing he won’t, but maybe he will.”
Staff writer Sarah Elms contributed to this report.
Contact Allison Dunn at adunn@theblade.com, 419-724-6506 or on Twitter @AllisonDBlade.
First Published July 20, 2018, 8:10 p.m.
