Moline Asks Rock Island to Consider Joint Fire Chief Position

Posted 05/06/09

With the pending retirement of Moline Fire Chief Rick Jewell in July 2009, Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher has proposed the concept of a joint Fire Chief position with the City of Rock Island. The Moline City Council is open to exploring the feasibility of creating such a joint Fire Chief position between the two municipalities, though no commitment has been made. The idea was formulated after Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher began investigating the possibility of a Moline Public Safety Director position to replace the Fire Chief and Police Chief, but encountered resistance to that idea within both departments.

The concept was conceived as a cost-saving measure to reduce labor costs in an effort to avoid proposing tax increases. The City of Moline has experienced a significant decline in sales tax and state shared income tax revenues due to the poor economy. Additionally, focus has been to minimize the impact on community services and so much of the emphasis has been on administrative functions. According to Mr. Steinbrecher, the idea of a joint Fire Chief will save both cities in terms of eliminating duplicative administrative duties, but often business decisions are influenced by the political practicality of such efficiencies by the many stakeholders involved in the public sector decision making process.

Mr. Steinbrecher also cited the success that has been achieved in the past between Moline and Rock Island with other cooperative and collaborative efforts and noted the strong relationship that already exists between the two municipalities as a solid foundation to at least explore the feasibility of a joint Fire Chief position. “It’s just a concept at this point, but the idea is inherently endowed with the principles of efficiency, cost-savings, intergovernmental cooperation, keeping property taxes low, being responsive to taxpayers concerns, innovative solutions in the public sector, and making local government more businesslike.”

John Phillips, Rock Island City Manager said that in view of Moline’s interest and our general support for regional cooperation, Rock Island will at least consider the idea. “We currently have a great Fire Department in Rock Island. It is important that we don’t take any action that will decrease the effectiveness of our department. It will also be important for Chief Vroman to learn more about the organization, operation and issues and challenges of the Moline Fire Department in order to gain a better idea of the time that would be needed to lead the Moline Fire Department. Chief Vroman has been very busy keeping the Rock Island Fire Department running effectively and also very involved with regional emergency preparedness planning. We will need to decide if this is a feasible concept.”

Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher will be exploring this idea of a joint Fire Chief with Rock Island City Manager John Phillips and Rock Island Fire Chief Doug Vroman over the next several weeks, as well as involving members of the Moline Fire Department and keeping the City Council abreast of developments on the feasibility of such a joint position.

The City of Moline will initiate a selection process to identify potential internal candidates for the position of Interim Fire Chief to ensure a proper chain of command structure within the Department after Chief Jewell’s departure on July 18th. Given the uncertainty of the feasibility and practical logistics of a Joint Moline-Rock Island Fire Chief and the complexity of approvals necessary to implement such a position if one is indeed created, it is expected to take several months of transition that will extend beyond Chief Jewell’s retirement date. City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher explained that it would be prudent to have an Interim Fire Chief in place well before Chief Jewell’s last day to ensure a smooth transition until a final decision is reached on how the Moline Fire Chief’s position will be filled on a permanent basis. Mr. Steinbrecher stated that he has invited personnel from the Fire Department represented by the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) to participate in the selection process for an Interim Fire Chief.