OXNARD : City Hires Former County Fire Chief

Ending a 17-month search, the Oxnard city manager hired former Ventura County Fire Chief Randy Coggan on Tuesday to head the city Fire Department.

The City Council signed off on City Manager Tom Frutchey’s choice of Coggan, 43, after lunching with him at the Mandalay Bay Beach Resort on Tuesday afternoon in a closed session.

Coggan said after the meeting that the department must look to become more efficient with a tight budget. He also said he plans to bolster safety regulations to keep firefighters healthy as well as to save the city from costly disability payments.

But overall, Coggan said, the department is operating fine as it is.

“They are providing a high level of services with what is commonly known as a low level of personnel per capita,” Coggan said. “I look forward to meeting with the city manager and the City Council to chart a direction for the department.”

Coggan was fired six months ago as fire chief in Redmond, Wash., by the mayor, who cited philosophical differences. Coggan said that his departure from Redmond, which has a population of 40,000, seems now like a blessing.

“While Redmond is a good fire department, Oxnard is a great fire department,” Coggan said. “And I hope we can make it even better.”

Coggan said he still needs to work out the details of his salary with Frutchey. Frutchey did not return phone calls Tuesday. Coggan was the county’s top fire official from 1988 to 1990, resigning because he was needed at his home in Florida, where his father was ill.

Councilman Bedford Pinkard, who interviewed Coggan, said he was impressed by his experience, professionalism and modern management approach.

“He just feels that there is room for improvement,” Pinkard said. “If firefighters are not competitive, they may someday have to go through privatization. He’s thinking along the same lines the city is thinking about right now.”