LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima City Council continues their discussions from April on potentially changing their hiring procedures for the city's Police and Fire Chief.
The conversation of this possible change is occurring as both Chief Angel Cortes with the Lima Police Department and Chief Andy Heffner with the Lima Fire Department will be retiring later this year, leaving both positions open. Currently, the Lima Police and Fire Departments only permit hiring of the next chief by conducting an internal search, but council is considering expanding that search to external candidates outside of each department. However, councilors present different stances on what should occur.
"I am for opening it up, and I think it would be for the best of the city. I was a football coach for 22 years. If you give me a chance to choose from 12 people, I'm going to be able to give a better football team together as if you are giving me a chance to choose from three people," says Todd Gordon, First Ward Councilor, Lima City Council.
"When I ask them to come, they come or they send someone; you know what I mean? I appreciate those things, and I would hate for anything of that nature, you know, to get disturbed at all. I would not feel comfortable in without someone coming up through those ranks," says Thomas M.W. Jones, Fifth Ward Councilor, Lima City Council.
After Monday night's Council of the Whole meeting, we talked with Fire Chief Andy Heffner about the current fire chief hiring process and whether the council should conduct an internal or external search.
"To become the chief, what we are doing is a candidate pool of possibly three people. And with that, you will test, and then whoever the highest score is going to become the chief. They're looking to move that now to the battalion chiefs also. You would have a candidate pool of six, but city council is, right now, looking to go outside possibly recruit other chiefs to come in and take the test. It's a very complicated issue. I understand both sides, but being a lifelong firefighter and a lifelong resident of the City of Lima, I believe that we have enough great talent in the City of Lima that we can have the candidate pool be those six people and have a great chief," says Chief Andy Heffner, Lima Fire Department.
Lima Police Chief Angel Cortes did not attend Monday night's meeting or the meeting on April 15th. The Council passed a vote seven-to-zero to keep the conversation going.
