Fire chief search restarted

After months of searching for a new fire chief, members of the Cloquet Area Fire District board decided to start over. They will reconsider the job requirements and administrative structure of the organization before interviewing any more candidates.

The board made its decision at a special meeting Monday, June 29, after negotiations with candidate George Esbensen failed and Esbensen withdrew from consideration, and the succession committee put a different name forward, that of current CAFD training administrator Corey Larson, who had not been selected after the first interviews.

Board member Jason Paulson suggested they hire Larson after negotiations with Esbenson failed and another desired candidate, former Cloquet city administrator Brian Fritsinger, withdrew from the process after the second round of interviews.

“I moved Mr. Larson’s name forward because in this process, it’s become evident to me that we are going to have a hard time finding the perfect candidate,” the Thomson Township representative said. “We’re going to have a hard time finding any candidate.”

He ran through the candidate list. Esbensen wanted too much money, and a car to drive home, and negotiations failed, he said. The first candidate was unemployed and the board didn’t want him. Fritsinger withdrew.

Larson checked a lot of the boxes, Paulson said, pointing out that the training administrator had a lot of nice recommendations from within the department.

“We’re going to get three kinds of people: the unemployed, the money grabber and the young looking to better themselves. That’s all we got, whether it’s now or four months from now,” he added. “You hire on fit, and then you train for skill.”

Board member Linda Way of Brevator Township said she was impressed by Larson and agreed he has a “tremendous future,” but after a number of sleepless nights last week, she went back to her original assessment that he simply didn’t meet the requirements of the job.

“I think there’s a fourth type that are interested in this job: I think there’s other internal candidates that clearly have the criteria and the skills to do the job, that want to make a difference for our citizens, that are truly vested in this community and have proven themselves leaders,” she said.

Larson wasn’t the only board member who thought there are other internal candidates that could be more qualified for the job. Board members went around the virtual and actual table in the combined meeting, and weighed in on the search process, Larson and moving forward.

“If we are going to redefine what qualifies a person to fill this top position, we owe it to all staff to specify what the job is and put it into writing via a revised job description and repost the job, so qualified candidates are able to apply,” Cloquet board member Bob DeCaigney said, reading from a prepared statement. DeCaigny also recommended the board conduct a survey of current staff regarding any redefined process, which he called a good first step toward “reestablishing board trust and credibility with staff.”

“Let us stabilize our current structure, move on thoughtfully and strategically to secure the best leader for our citizens, staff and future of the district,” DeCaigny said to finish his statement.

A motion by Paulson to hire Larson died for lack of a second.

Board members appeared to agree on the need to reconsider the job description and assess what they are trying to accomplish when hiring the next leader for the fire district. Posting the revised job description was also a popular point. They set a board retreat for 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 7. Other board members include chairperson Jim Langenbrunner, Gary Harms of Perch Lake and Marshal Johnson of Scanlon.

In other matters, board members confirmed assistant fire chief Roger Waters as interim fire chief at a step 2 level, effective Monday. They will interview for interim assistant fire chief at a future board meeting.

Made up of the member communities of Cloquet, Scanlon, Perch Lake and Brevator, CAFD also provides structural fire protection under contract to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The total area covered by the fire district including the Reservation spans 170 square miles. CAFD also provides ambulance service to a state-mandated area of more than 250 square miles in Carlton County and southern St. Louis County. CAFD was the first fire district in the state, and has been a leader since its inception in 2009.