Fire chief hopefuls make splash

The seven men competing to command the Charleston Fire Department as it rebuilds from the tragic Sofa Super Store fire spent Monday in a whirl of meetings with council members, firefighters and community leaders.

The public nature of the process is unprecedented in Charleston, where the mayor alone has the authority to nominate the next chief for confirmation by City Council.

Council members had pushed for a larger role and were pleased with the outcome.

"We're getting a chance to see the final candidates, and I think that's admirable," said Councilman Jimmy Gallant, who earlier this year resigned from the Public Safety Committee to protest council's lack of involvement.

There's been speculation that a clear front-runner is among the seven candidates, but council members disagree.

"I don't think that the deck was stacked," Councilman Larry Shirley said.

On Friday after the city released the finalists' names, Fire Chief magazine Editorial Director Janet Wilmoth said candidate Thomas Carr was the obvious standout.

Mayor Joe Riley reiterated Monday that he's made no decision and could pick any one of the seven.

Shirley and Councilmen Aubry Alexander and Gary White said they all came away with the same two or three favorites, though they declined to reveal their preferences.

Alexander is on council's Public Safety Committee, which will interview each candidate today for an hour.

"I'd be hard-pressed to say, after having lunch with them, that I could pick one or maybe two," said committee Chairwoman Yvonne Evans. "I think they are all very qualified."

Riley will also conduct interviews today, as will another committee that he selected.

The leader ultimately chosen will take over a department still reeling from the nine firefighter deaths in the Sofa Super Store fire. The deaths revealed systemic problems and led to expensive equipment upgrades and changes in procedures.

Fire Chief Rusty Thomas retired in June, a year after the fire.

"What we're looking for is a leader," Evans said. "They need to come in to a department that has been through so very much and take it where it needs to be."

Thomas Carr

Councilman James Lewis said Carr would be his first choice.

Carr, 54, is chief of 2,200 paid and volunteer firefighters at the Montgomery County (Md.) Fire and Rescue Service.

Commanders from Charleston attended training sessions with Carr's department after the sofa store tragedy.

Carr told council members that in Montgomery County he developed a model urban search and rescue program and an aggressive incident command training program.

Carr's parents have homes downtown and on Sullivan's Island, but he's not the only candidate with local ties.

Jamie Geer

Chief of Clearwater (Fla.) Fire and Rescue, Geer grew up on James Island and was a firefighter with the James Island and Mount Pleasant fire departments until 1980.

Councilman Gary White said he thinks Charleston firefighters could relate well to someone who was a local firefighter.

In Clearwater, Geer has drawn the ire of the firefighters union and a raft of grievances.

Geer said those issues resulted from the significant changes he was hired to make in the department after a fire that killed several residents and seriously injured five firefighters.

"As a change-agent fire chief, change is difficult and not everyone agrees with it," Geer said after the luncheon.

Richard Brannon

Lewis said that in addition to Carr, he also was impressed by Brannon, deputy chief of the Mobile (Ala.) Fire-Rescue Department, and Larry Collins, former chief of the Dayton (Ohio) Fire Department.

Mobile has 20 fire stations serving an area roughly twice Charleston's size.

Brannon also is an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve. He oversaw the decontamination of equipment and personnel at the World Trade Center site after 9/11 and was responsible for the recovery operation for more than 500 commercial vessels after Hurricane Katrina.

Larry Collins

Collins was with the Dayton department for 30 years.

He was its training officer and hazardous materials coordinator and oversaw a $37 million budget.

Collins started out as a paramedic and worked his was up to chief, holding that post for 11 years. He attended the Management Excellence Program at the University of Virginia.

William Goodwin

Councilman Wendell Gilliard said he was most impressed by Goodwin, who resigned last fall as chief of the Baltimore Fire Department.

Goodwin has a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and was a fellow at Harvard University. In Baltimore he oversaw a $150 million budget, which is more than Charleston's city budget.

"What I liked about him was his respect for workers' rights," Gilliard said.

The union president in Baltimore has been critical of Goodwin, who stepped down in the wake of the death of a firefighting cadet who died during a live-burn training exercise.

Goodwin said he was out of the country when the cadet died, and said he pushed for an independent investigation.

"I'm sure the union president doesn't agree with me, but leadership is dangerous," he said.

John Rukavina

Rukavina retired in June as director of public safety for Wake County (N.C.), a department serving about 220,000 people.

He opted for a career in the fire service while earning his law degree.

"I really have the fire service in my blood," he told council.

Rukavina has worked as a city manager, as well as a fire chief. He is a certified mediator in North Carolina, and while working in Asheville (N.C.) he helped facilitate a program to improve race relations.

Thomas Solberg

Solberg is chief of the Lee's Summit (Mo.) Fire Department. He was appointed chief in 2000, and was union president for nine years before going into management.

He has been in the fire service for 30 years, having started out in 1978 as a paramedic.

A union leader in Lee's Summit credited Solberg with helping to unite the department in the wake of a diving death that claimed a firefighter in 1999.

The firefighters

Dozens of firefighters met with the finalists in the afternoon at the Charleston Maritime Center.

Several said they appreciated the opportunity to size up the candidates.

"I think it was a good idea to get to know them a little more before you throw some bugles on their collar and they're the boss of us," firefighter Chris Tennyson said.

Several firefighters said they were impressed but had some concerns about how long a few candidates had been away from the front lines.

"You want someone who has been knee-deep," firefighter Alfred Brewington said.

Capt. George LeMacks said the ideal pick would be someone with a solid background in firefighting, administrative skills, and a leader's ability to bring Charleston in line with modern fire services.

Engineer Marty Richard said he hopes the next chief will build a better relationship with rank-and-file firefighters.

"If one of those guys gets in there, then Charleston is going to grow by leaps and bounds," he said. "We're all excited, but the mayor's next announcement (about who will be chief) is going to determine just how excited we really are."

A receiving line

The candidates finished out their day at the Charleston Visitor Center with neighborhood leaders and others.

The seven stood in a receiving line for 90 minutes, shaking hands and chatting with civic association officers from across the city.

"It's important to us, who the next fire chief is," said Michael Allen, president of the Ashley Hall Manor Civic Association.

Riley said he would decide whom to nominate soon but offered no timetable.