The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
SIERRA VISTA — Randy Redmond was selected Friday to be the new Sierra Vista fire chief.
Redmond replaces Bruce Thompson, who retired last fall after serving the city since 1981.
Redmond, formerly the assistant fire chief, has served as the interim chief since Thompson left, and he said the interim time has made more smooth his becoming chief.
“Working in the interim position has been a wonderful opportunity for me to learn in an organization that’s so well groomed and so well prepared to function every day,” Redmond said.
|
|
He said he looks forward to continuing to work with the great people of a great institution.
Redmond, a graduate of Buena High School, began his local career as a reserve firefighter with the Fry Fire District in 1982. He started work with the city department in 1998, where he was a reserve firefighter for three years.
He earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Phoenix in 1999, and a master of science degree from Grand Canyon University in 2007.
Redmond has been the deputy fire chief since 2002, and was the training officer/battalion chief from 1999 to 2002.
Of the 21 initial applicants for the chief position, the list was shortened to six who underwent oral review boards Feb. 12. Redmond and Phil Davis, an applicant formerly of the Elk Grove (Calif.) Fire Department, were the two who remained after the initial oral review boards.
“I felt that we had two very good candidates at the end, and both were very well qualified for the position, and both were very different in terms of organization and approach,” said City Manager Chuck Potucek, who made the final decision after conducting interviews with a panel that included the assitant city manager and police chief. “Randy has served the department well, and I felt he brought the enthusiasm and the experience and the knowledge of the issues, and has done all we’ve asked him to, in terms of ongoing education.”
Issues at hand for the city department include Station 3 going online late this summer with a full staff, a potential new deal with the Fry Fire District for more integrated service between the two agencies, and continued streamlining of communications service with state and county dispatching agency.
“So a number of new challenges, and Randy is already familiar with a number of these issues and can help us move forward and make progress on them without having to learn it,” Potucek said.
The decision came about a week after the oral panel interviews of Redmond and Davis.
“I told Chuck this morning that his decision this morning will probably determine my fire service career to retire here in Sierra Vista, just like it started in Sierra Vista,” Redmond said.
At 10:39 a.m. on Friday, a city dispatcher announced over the air that Redmond was selected as fire chief.
In his new job, Redmond will start with a salary of about $103,000 a year, said Marie Hansen, the city’s public information officer.
On the Net
• City of Sierra Vista: www.ci.sierra-vista.az.us/
REPORTER Gentry Braswell can be reached at 515-4680 or by e-mail at gentry.braswell@svherald.com.
Friends wrote on Mar 17, 2008 7:55 AM: