Members of the Oxford Village Council last week made it perfectly clear they aren’t happy with the township board’s quick decision to hire Pete Scholz as the new fire chief without posting the job, doing a search or interviewing any other candidates.
‘I don’t believe the township board did this community a service by just blindly appointing somebody to be chief without an interview process to perhaps see if we were getting the very best for the money,? said village President Chris Bishop.
Council voted 5-0 to direct village Manager Joe Young to write a letter to the township officials calling on them to advertise for the fire chief position, set up a formal interview process that’s ‘full, open and public,? and include village representations in any discussions regarding this issue.
‘I think it should be a very public interview process,? Bishop said.
At its July 9 meeting, the township board voted 6-1 to direct Supervisor Bill Dunn to sit down with Scholz, who currently serves as the department’s deputy chief, and work out a new employment contract effective Nov. 1.
Jack LeRoy, the department’s current chief, is retiring in late October after 37 years as a public safety servant.
‘This is probably the most appalling form of irresponsibility I have ever witnessed to just blindly appoint somebody without searching,? said Councilwoman Teri Stiles. ‘I can’t believe the community’s not outraged by this.?
Council noted and expressed their appreciation to Dunn for casting the lone dissenting vote because he wanted to do his due diligence as an elected official before hiring anyone.
As for the rest of the township board, once the recommendation was made to make Scholz the new chief, Stiles, who was at the meeting, said it ‘ran like wild fire,? no pun intended.
Bishop felt the township should have searched for candidates with firefighting expertise such as college degrees, administrative background and hands-on experience as a full-time firefighter in a larger, urban department.
Although he’s served with the fire department since February 1976, Scholz has only been a full-time employee since January 2008 when he became deputy chief. Prior to that he had always been a paid-on-call (part-time) firefighter and department officer.
Because Scholz has only ever served with the Oxford Fire Department, Bishop said he has a limited background and a ‘very narrow view of the world.?
Bishop also noted then when Scholz was hired as deputy chief, a full-time position which didn’t exist prior to him, he never went through an interview process nor was the job ever publicly posted.
Four firefighters in other communities were asked by Bishop whether they thought, given his background, Scholz was qualified to be chief.
‘I didn’t have one person tell me yes. Not one,? said the village president.
Twp. Treasurer Joe Ferrari said he supported hiring Scholz because he thought of it as ‘good succession planning.?
‘I thought the fire department did a good job of looking within and promoting somebody from within,? he said. ‘Pete Scholz has been with that department forever. He’s a very qualified gentleman, very knowledgable.?
‘If he was not qualified, if I felt he wasn’t going to do a good job, I would never have supported that,? Ferrari added.
‘If you guys haven’t done interviews to see what’s out there, see what’s available, I don’t know how you could just do it,? Bishop retorted. ‘That’s not responsible.?
Bishop said there may even be people currently employed within the department who have more firefighting experience than Scholz.
‘I am all for advancement through our department, but I also am all for looking for the best qualified candidate for our residents who are paying the bills,? said Councilman Tom Benner.
‘I have met many, many, many fire people in the last 10 years that I think are as qualified to lead,? said Stiles, who noted this has nothing to do with Scholz personally.