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Council authorizes offer to fire chief candidate, hires three firefighters and two volunteers
Summary
Councilors authorized the mayor to extend an offer to their top fire-chief candidate, Mike Lapena, approved hiring three firefighters and added two volunteer on-call firefighters, and extended the hiring timeline by agreement with the fire department.
The West Frankfort City Council voted July 14 to authorize an offer of employment to Mike Lapena as fire chief and to hire multiple new firefighters.
Mayor Artview told the council that interviews had produced a top candidate and asked for authority to extend an offer to Lapena, who told the mayor he would need to give two weeks’ notice and could start with an appointment expected at the council’s August 11 meeting. The council approved a motion to authorize the mayor to extend the offer.
The council also approved several related personnel actions. Members approved a memorandum of understanding with the fire department to extend the hiring deadline for three firefighter positions to September 1, 2026, and passed a resolution to hire three career firefighters — Austin Kern, Carson Pearson and Jared Randall. The council additionally approved resolutions to appoint two volunteer on-call firefighters, Harrison Williams and Colby Herron.
Mayor Artview said oaths would be scheduled later and that family photos would be taken at the meeting for the new hires.
Why it matters: the personnel actions increase the department’s staffing and formalize leadership succession planning. The MOU extends a previously set deadline to allow for recruitment and onboarding.
What’s next: the mayor will extend the written offer to Mike Lapena; the council scheduled a formal appointment for August 11 and will coordinate oaths and onboarding for the newly hired firefighters.
