FIRE CHIEF DECISION WAITS UNTIL JANUARY

An announcement concerning appointment of a new city fire chief will be made after the first of the year, Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Monday.

"Our goal is to make a final decision in late December, and announce the selection of the new chief in early January," said Fischer. "As soon as we've made our choice, and the offer has been accepted, we'll make the announcement."

The chief will replace Gene Hindman, who retired Oct. 1. Until Hindman's replacement takes over, Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch is serving as acting chief.

Fischer said almost 80 applications for the position were received from across the United States. Following the mid-September deadline for applications, Fischer, Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink, former personnel director Jeff Riches, and Human Resources and Risk Management Director Dan Ward reviewed the resumes and narrowed the list to 15 candidates.

"About 10 days ago, Al and I selected seven of the 15 candidates for telephone interviews," Fischer said. "From the seven who were interviewed, we have cut the list down to three, and we're now attempting to set up in-person interviews with each of the finalists between now and

mid-December."

All of the finalists live along the East Coast, Fischer said.

Final selection will be made by a committee of four or five people consisting of the city manager, assistant city manager, a department head, and possibly someone not involved in city government. "Our goal is to have the selection committee make its recommendation by late December," Fischer said.

"If we should not be able to find the person we feel would be an asset to the fire department, we would start the search over again, using our pool of resumes," Fischer said. "In the meantime, Max would continue as acting fire chief. I feel Max is very competent, and I feel very comfortable with him as acting chief. I have discussed this possibility with Max and made him aware that he is a key player in this whole thing."

An advertisement in the Southeast Missourian last summer indicated the city is looking for a fire chief who is a graduate of a four-year college or university with a major in fire science or public administration and seven years experience in fire command operations. The ad also indicated the city was looking for a chief with experience and, or, training in public safety department operations.

Fischer said in September there were no plans to merge the police and fire departments into a department of public safety.