Evans Fire Protection District

Transcription

1 Evans Fire Protection District Providing professional fire and emergency services with Dedication, Compassion, & Excellence Fire Chief recruitment The Evans Fire Protection District is seeking a new Fire Chief, serving as the Chief Executive Officer, to lead the District into the future. The District was established in 2011 by an overwhelming vote of the District s electors to form and fund the District. The District was formerly the Evans Fire Rescue Department under the City of Evans. The new Chief will succeed retiring Chief Warren Jones who has served the District for the past eight years. This is an unparalleled opportunity for the right individual to work with a committed Board and lead an engaged workforce to higher levels of fire and emergency service to the citizens of Evans. Apply online at Application Deadline March 31, 2014~5pm MST Hiring Range $89,000-$99,000 Belonging, Dependability, Flexibility, Hard Work, Teamwork, Loyalty, Honest, Trust, Integrity

2 The District & Community The District serves approximately 19,000 citizens in Evans, Colorado in an area of 10 square miles. Located in the southern portion of the Greeley-Evans metro area (combined population of 120,000) the District is completely contained within the municipal limits of the City of Evans. While Evans is primarily a suburban community, it is in close proximity to the outstanding recreational areas of northern Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. It is near the cities of Loveland and Fort Collins and is also within 50 miles of the Denver-Boulder metro area. District Services The District provides 24/7 fire and emergency services from one fully staffed fire station. Administrative offices are located in the Evans Community Complex, which also serves as the Evans City Hall. The District staffs two engine companies with six on-duty firefighters 24/7. One of the on-duty engine companies cross-staffs a light EMS response vehicle. There are 12 full-time shift firefighters and company officers, 10 part-time and 20 volunteer firefighters. The administrative staff includes the Fire Chief, a Training Officer, and an Administrative Assistant. An Assistant Chief position is authorized but is currently vacant due to budget limitations. In 2013, the District responded to 1,772 incidents of which 68% were related to medical emergencies. The District participates in automatic-aid agreements with the Milliken FPD and LaSalle FPD. It also participates in the Weld County master mutual-aid system, which includes the City of Greeley Fire Department. Between on-duty staffing and automatic and mutual-aid, the District is generally able to deploy firefighters to structure fires within 10 minutes. The current ISO rating is 4. training services common to suburban fire departments. It participates with other fire agencies in special operations teams. The District training center includes a two-story live fire building as well as propane, vehicle fire, and positive pressure attack props. Currently, the District is transitioning to the Blue Card Hazard Zone Management System as are most fire agencies in Weld and Larimer Counties. Dispatch and communications services are provided by the Weld County Communications Center which serves all of the fire, law enforcement and ambulance agencies in the County. The District s apparatus fleet includes a 2013 Rosenbauer 78 quint, 2000 ALF pumper and a 1995 E1 pumper. A 2014 Rosenbauer pumper is on order. There is also a medium rescue, light EMS response vehicle, brush truck and several staff vehicles. The District has a balanced operating budget with $2,201,518 in revenue. The largest contributor to District revenue is Property Tax. The second largest revenue source is a contribution from the City of Evans in accordance with the Service Plan and Inter-Governmental Agreement authorized as part of the formation of the District. In 2014, this contribution is $448,918. Through the Inter-Governmental Agreement, the City of Evans staff provides the administrative services of human resources, finance, insurance and risk management. In addition to structure fire protection, the District provides first response emergency medical services at the BLS level. Paramedic ambulance service is provided under contract by Banner Health/North Colorado Medical Center Paramedics in Greeley. The District provides the normal range of rescue, wildland, fire prevention and 2

3 The Position The Fire Chief serves as the District s Chief Executive Officer responsible for all district operations and administrative functions. This requires frequent interaction with the City of Evans as well as Weld County. The Chief reports directly to, and works under the policy direction of, the District s Board of Directors. The Chief serves as a member of the Evans City Manager s management team and is an integral part of the City s emergency preparedness efforts. The City staff and District Board have come to expect a high level of administrative capability on the part of the Chief in managing the District and its relationship with the City. The Chief directly supervises four Captains; one on each of three shifts and the Training Officer, as well as the Administrative Assistant. While the Chief does not respond to routine single company incidents nor serves as a line firefighter or company officer, he does respond to multi-company incidents and serves as an incident commander in accordance with District command procedures. Since the Assistant Chief position has been vacant, the Chief is actively involved in managing the day-to-day operations of the District. This role is expected to continue until the Assistant Chief position can be funded. The Chief is the District s Fire Code Official and is an active member of the City s development review team. The Chief also serves within the command structure of regional incidents and works closely with the Fire Chiefs of neighboring fire, EMS and emergency management agencies. The Chief also serves as the City s incident commander for cross-discipline disasters beyond fires. open minded, and comfortable with managing change. He or she must have strong personal values that are consistent with the values of the District. The Chief must be committed to developing the organization and all its members and able to function as a mentor and coach. He or she must be personable and approachable by members, the Board, City staff and the public. The Chief must be able to educate and guide the Board in a wide variety of service and policy issues. While the Chief must have a strong operational focus, he or she must understand the relationship between political leadership, policy development and operational execution. The Chief must be an excellent communicator and listener with superior oral and written communication skills. He or she must be able to continue to enhance the relationship between the City and the District and be a champion of this relationship. He or she must be able to apply best public administration practices, perform program analysis and use appropriate data in making decisions. The ideal candidate will have superior financial, budget, human resource and planning skills, and be able to demonstrate a positive return-on-investment of the public funds entrusted to the District. He or she must be a decisive decision-maker who takes into consideration the input of all stakeholders. The Chief must be committed to cooperation with neighboring fire agencies, and be able to take advantage of future opportunities for higher levels of regional cooperation, including shared services, contracting for services and possibly consolidation. He or she must be able to seek out and implement innovative solutions to current and future problems. The Ideal Candidate The District is seeking an accomplished fire service professional with a demonstrated record of applying well-developed executive leadership skills to a wide variety of fire and public safety issues. The ideal candidate will be a visionary leader who is confident in his or her skills, 3

4 Challenges & Opportunities Shallow management staff: During the recession, and to address other priorities, the Fire Marshal, Administrative Assistant, and Assistant Chief positions were lost. While the Administrative Assistant position has been restored, neither the Assistant Chief nor Fire Marshal can be reinstated until District revenue increases. For this reason, the Chief has assumed a larger role in operations and fire prevention. This requires the Chief to function from executive leadership to field tasks. The Chief must be able to function in all these roles into the foreseeable future. Relationship with the City of Evans: The current relationship with the City of Evans is a cornerstone of the success of the District. The Board, City staff and District members know that as time goes by this relationship may drift. The Chief will be expected to be aggressive in maintaining and growing this relationship. Combination organization: The District depends on a cost-effective mix of full-time, part-time and volunteer personnel to meet staffing objectives within the revenue capacity of the District. This presents unique internal management and leadership challenges. The Chief must be well-grounded in innovative management strategies to address the needs of these three distinct groups. Training, fire prevention and emergency preparedness: Due to the loss of key staff positions the effectiveness of training, fire prevention, and emergency preparedness has declined. The Chief will be expected to bring new perspectives and energy to these functions and position the District to improve these functions as revenue recovers The Chief must bring a high level of personal knowledge to these functions. Limited resources: The District has one of the highest property tax rates in the state. However, the per capita property tax generated by this mill levy is among the lowest. The ratio of commercial to residential property is also low. New development is modest and mostly residential. While the value of property is expected to increase as the economy improves, this will not be realized until at least the next reassessment in The Chief will also be expected to aggressively pursue grants and alternative funding sources. Interagency relationships: Providing adequate services to the citizens of the District requires a high degree of cooperation with neighboring fire agencies. These relationships have varied over time and require constant effort to maintain. The Board expects that the Chief will enhance existing relationships and build new ones. Service Call 4% Rescue & EMS 68% Fire 3% False Call 6% Good Intent Call 16% Hazardous Condition 3% Growth in EMS and non-emergency responses: The number of non-fire incidents has increased much faster than the increase in population. Most of these responses are for low acuity medical emergencies and nonemergency incidents. While the circumstances that generate these responses are mostly beyond the control of the District, the Chief will be expected to be engaged with others in addressing this problem. The Board expects the Chief to take a proactive approach in addressing this problem. 4

5 Experience, Education & Training The Chief will be expected to bring a superior combination of experience, education and training to the challenges and opportunities of the District. The District will consider any combination of experience, education and training that demonstrates a candidate s ability to meet the essential functions of the job description. A summary of minimum qualifications required to be considered for the position are listed below. See job description for detailed information. A Bachelor s degree from an accredited institution in fire science, public administration, management, business, political science or other related field. Ten years of fire service experience in a full-time paid capacity in a full service fire organization. Five years of increasingly responsible command and management experience responsible for managing multiple fire companies, fire stations, and functions. Demonstrated experience in managing a budget, preferably in excess of $1.5 million. Demonstrated experience in securing grants or alternative funding. Demonstrated experience in managing a relationship with an elected Board of Directors, City Council or similar body. Skill in program development, management and analysis. Valid Fire Officer I or similar certification. Ability to obtain Fire Officer II certification within one year of appointment. Incident command experience of multi-company and multi-discipline incidents. Colorado EMT-B or similar medical certification, within one year of appointment. Demonstrated record of professional development in executive roles, including completion, or current participation in the National Fire Academy, Executive Fire Officer Program, Center for Public Safety Excellence Chief Fire Officer Designee, Fire Officer III, or similar professional development program is desired. Compensation & Benefits Hiring Range: $89,000 $99,000 Medical/Dental/Vision/Life/Disability Insurance Colorado Fire and Police Pension Association defined benefit plan (District 8%, Employee 8%) 3% District contribution to deferred contribution plan with up to 4% additional District match Vacation: 8 hours of vacation accrual per month increases with years of service Sick leave: 8 hours of health leave accrual per month Holidays: 11 paid holidays per year EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Application Process Applications should be submitted through the District website The following are projected dates and are subject to change. Recruitment Timeline: Feb 25 March 31, 5pm MST: Recruitment & application period April: Initial applicant screening (may include phone/video interviews or other management assessments) April 28: Board of Directors reviews candidate list May 12-13: Assessment center for approved candidates May 19: Board of Directors reviews final candidate list June: Final interviews 5