Alhambra to Widen Search for Fire Chief

The city will look inside and outside its Fire Department for a new chief rather than consider only in-house candidates, City Manager Kevin Murphy said Thursday.

The city has been without a permanent fire chief since Aug. 24, when Robert G. Tolladay Jr. died in a plane crash near Placerville.

Murphy said he will use an executive recruiting firm to test and screen applicants. The firm, which has not yet been chosen, will narrow the list to three finalists, from which Murphy will select the new chief.

Murphy said a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing Alhambra of discriminating against minorities, although prominent on city officials’ minds, wasn’t the reason he opened the hiring process.

The suit, filed last month, claims that Alhambra failed to recruit blacks, Latinos and Asians for jobs in its fire and police departments, a charge Alhambra officials vehemently deny.

“My decision was made with or without the lawsuit,” Murphy said. He added, however, that the lawsuit “certainly is a factor you can’t ignore.”

Minorities constitute 14.7% of the Fire Department’s employees. But there are no black or Asian firefighters, Murphy said. Four of the department’s 18 fire captains are Latino; all five battalion chiefs and the acting chief are Anglo.

Acting Chief Richard Ingram and Battalion Chief Jim Ballard, who are applying for the permanent position, said they welcome open competition. “We’re going to whop ‘em, we really will,” Ingram said Thursday.