Police and Fire Commission rejects two patrol candidates, selects fire chief candidate; announcement to follow

The Police and Fire Commission on June 30 met in closed session and decided to remove two patrol officer candidates from further consideration and to select a candidate for fire chief, the commission reported when it returned to open session.

The meeting opened with roll call and adoption of the agenda by unanimous consent. The Chair read two closed-session items on the agenda: review of patrol officer candidates (D1) and continued deliberation and evaluation of fire chief candidates (D2). The commission said it convened under Wisconsin Statutes section 19.85(1)(c) and (f), which permit closed sessions to consider employment, promotion or performance-evaluation data, and noted the authority to reconvene in open session under section 19.85(2).

Commissioner Dorf moved to go into closed session for the two items; Commissioner Sherman seconded the motion, and the commission approved it by voice vote.

Returning to open session, the Chair reported that the commission reviewed the backgrounds of two patrol officer applicants and chose to reject both from further progress in the hiring process. On the fire chief search, the commission "has made a decision," the Chair said, adding that "there's still some administrative details to work out, so an announcement will be made via press release sometime later next week." The Chair described both outcomes as unanimous.

After the report, Commissioner Dorf moved to confirm the Chair's summary of the closed session; Commissioner Marsh seconded, and the motion was approved by voice vote. With no further business, the Chair adjourned the meeting by unanimous consent.

The commission did not release the name of the selected fire chief candidate at the meeting. Officials said they will issue a press release with further details next week.