Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRR19115 Hanson - ResponseFire Chief Assessment Center – February 21, 2019 Panel 1 Questions 1. Briefly describe your preparation to be the next Fire Chief in San Luis Obispo and tell us why you are interested in becoming the Fire Chief here. 2. Please describe your impressions of the community and department, including your opinion of the department’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. 3. Let’s assume for a moment that you are the candidate selected for the job. Tell us about your transition plan – including how you go about establishing yourself as the new Chief both internally and externally within the community? 4. In the past few years there have been significant issues that the Chief and Fire Union have disagreed over such as the purchase of Truck 2, the Leave Pool Staffing Pool, and paramedic shift bidding. How do you plan to deal with labor/management disagreements? 5. Please describe your experience working directly with city managers and elected officials. Based on that experience, what has been effective in maintaining a healthy and productive relationship with them? 6. How do you manage and keep track of your budget? 7. Are there non-traditional, innovative or unique practices being implemented in other fire departments that SLO should consider? 8. Even in lean times, due to rising employee costs and new mandates, the cost of providing fire protection and emergency medical services continues to increase and be among the most expensive municipal services. W hat is your sense of the capacity of the Fire Department to deliver these services given current staffing levels and budget? 9. Scenario: It is early 2019 and the City Manager is preparing the State of the City speech to be presented to all City employees and ultimately to the City Council and community. Recent negative media attention regarding the cost of providing fire service, public safety pensions, expensive benefits, infrastructure needs, pay, etc. has distracted from the good work of the City. Please describe your response to Derek when he asks you to prepare some talking points that help address these issues. 10. What is your assessment of the current organizational culture of the Fire Department? W hat specifically have you done to improve department-wide culture, and what is your vision - if selected as Fire Chief - to further improve the Fire Department's organizational culture? 11. How do you plan to balance employee productivity and employee job satisfaction? How will you quantify these? 12. In a sentence, describe what is the essence of the City Manager’s working agreements. 13. What impact do you feel the City Council’s goals to increase affordable/high density housing, allowing Cannabis sales in the city, and bolstering tourism will have on the Fire Department’s ability to provide acceptable service levels? What recommendations do you have to ensure adequate service levels? 14. Please describe yourself in three words. 15. Do you have any closing remarks or questions? Fire Chief Assessment Center – February 21, 2019 Panel 2 Questions 1. Please provide us with an overview of your career and what makes you the best candidate to be the next SLO Fire Chief. 2. Tell us about your experience leading in Emergency Response. What short, immediate and long-term steps would you take to better prepare the City for its inevitable next emergency? 3. Please tell us about your leadership style and what (or who) has been the biggest influence on you as a leader and why. 4. Give us an example, or two, of your working relationships with other city departments and what you do to maintain or improve them. 5. You are approached by a Council member and encouraged to implement a new program that you believe in deeply. What do you do? 6. Share some examples of what you have done to promote diversity in the fire service. What are potential roadblocks to increasing diversity within the San Luis Obispo Fire Department, and how would you address them? 7. Effective delegation is important. Tell us about a time when you delegated staff work and/or cross departmental projects? What do you do when a team member needs assistance completing the work? 8. Give us an example where you demonstrated vision and creativity. 9. Give us an example of where you brought a divergent group of people together and developed consensus around a potentially controversial topic. 10. Please tell us about the other agencies, community groups, or other organizations you routinely work with in your present job. 11. What do you think the Fire Department could do as part of its 2019-21 budget, to support the City’s Fiscal Health Response Plan? 12. If we fast forward a couple of years to 2020, what might be different about our Fire Department? 13. What milestones would make your tenure as Fire Chief a successful one? How do you measure the performance of the Fire Department, beyond traditional response times? 14. What is the biggest job-related mistake that you have made? What did you do about it? What did you learn from this mistake? 15. Let’s say that you were hired as the Fire Chief here. What do you think will be the legacy you leave behind in your current role? How, or for what, will you be most remembered? 16. Do you have any questions or is there anything you would like to add? 4/1/2019 City of San Luis Obispo - Class Specification Bulletin https://agency.governmentjobs.com/slobispo/default.cfm?action=specbulletin&ClassSpecID=111314&headerfooter=0 1/3 Fire Chief Bargaining Unit: Department Heads/Appointed Officials Class Code: 27006 CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO Established Date: Jan 1, 1998 Revision Date: Aug 9, 2010 SALARY RANGE $68.68 - $85.88 Hourly $5,494.00 - $6,870.00 Biweekly $11,903.67 - $14,885.00 Monthly $142,844.00 - $178,620.00 Annually JOB DESCRIPTION: JOB SUMMARY: Performs highly responsible and professional work in fire prevention, emergency medical servicing, fire suppression, investigation, community education programs, and related services. Oversees master planning of fire services for the community. Plans, organizes and directs the activities of the Fire Department; takes charge of and directs departmental personnel and equipment at the scene of major fires and other disasters. Manages the City- wide disaster preparedness program. CLASS CHARACTERISTICS: The Fire Chief is a department head position that reports directly to the City Manager and oversees the work of operations and administrative staff. The Fire Chief is distinguished from the other fire management staff by its broader scope of functional responsibility, budgetary authority, and decision-making authority in matters affecting the prioritization of departmental services, as well as its greater external interfaces with the City Council, other fire and safety organizations, and fire associations, officials, and vendors. SUPERVISION: SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED: Works under the general direction of the City Manager. Exercises supervision over professional, technical, safety, and clerical personnel. EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: EXAMPLES OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 4/1/2019 City of San Luis Obispo - Class Specification Bulletin https://agency.governmentjobs.com/slobispo/default.cfm?action=specbulletin&ClassSpecID=111314&headerfooter=0 2/3 (Any one position may not include all of the duties listed nor do all the listed examples include all tasks which may be found in positions of the class.) Plans, organizes, directs and coordinates the activities of Fire Department personnel, apparatus and equipment engaged in preventing and extinguishing fires. Provides emergency medical services at the basic life support and advanced life support service levels. Provides hazardous materials emergency response capabilities. Manages the enforcement of fire ordinances, laws and codes. Formulates departmental rules, procedures and policies and ensures they are carried out. Assists in City zoning and planning and oversees the submittals of recommendations of fire and life safety in new developments. Develops and implements mutual aid plans with neighboring communities to insure a high level of fire protection. Serves as the City Coordinator in the development and implementation of disaster plans. Makes all recommendations on the hiring, retention, placement, rating, training, evaluation, motivation and termination of all departmental personnel. Works with other agencies, local, state and federal, to develop and maintain programs dealing with hazardous materials, emergency medical service delivery, auto aid and mutual aid programs, and other fire service organizations. Formulates an annual budget estimate and controls budget expenditures. Recommends purchase of equipment and supplies. Meets the public and deals with various officials and citizens in furthering public relations of the department and the City. Performs related duties similar to the above in scope and function as required. KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES: Knowledge of: Organizational and management practices as applied to the analysis and evaluation of Fire programs, policies and operational needs, and the development of new services, and program administration requirements. Federal, State and local Fire safety laws, codes, and regulations and municipal ordinances and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. Emergency and incident planning practices and response plans. Firefighting tactics and strategy. Theories of management and organization; leadership principles, and intergovernmental and community relations. Financial planning and budgeting practices; public budgeting systems. Principles of staffing, selection, training, supervision, evaluation, labor relations and motivation. Potential revenue generating and cost recovery programs Ability to: Plan, organize, direct and evaluate "state of the art" fire administration, suppression, prevention, emergency medical and hazardous materials services. Work cooperatively with employees at all levels within the City. Demonstrate management and leadership.Bbe a critical thinker who can respond to potential needs for community fire protection and public safety. Make effective presentations before the City Council and citizen groups. Represent the City effectively in professional relationships with other agencies, consultants, and the public. TYPICAL QUALIFICATIONS: 4/1/2019 City of San Luis Obispo - Class Specification Bulletin https://agency.governmentjobs.com/slobispo/default.cfm?action=specbulletin&ClassSpecID=111314&headerfooter=0 3/3 EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Bachelor's degree in Fire Science, Fire Technology, Business or Public Administration or related field. A Master's degree is preferred. and At least five years of fire management experience. or An equivalent combination of education and experience. POSSESSION AND MAINTENANCE OF: A valid California Class "C" driver's license.