Councilman Climbs a Rung in Fire Dept.

The only working stiff among Thousand Oaks’ elected leaders, Councilman Andy Fox is moving up the ladder in his job with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Fox, who’s completing his first term on the council, was recently promoted from fire captain to task force commander and has been transferred from his former station in downtown Los Angeles to East Los Angeles.

The new position, which comes with a 5.5% raise, places Fox in charge of total operations at Fire Station 12, where he will have a captain reporting to him. Fox, 39, said he is looking forward to the expanded responsibilities and the opportunity to learn about another part of the city--even if he now has to work on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

“My career is very important to me,” Fox said Monday. “I was one of those kids that always wanted to be a firefighter, and I’ve been lucky enough to realize that dream and then some.”

Fox is the only council member currently punching the clock. Mayor Judy Lazar and council members Elois Zeanah and Linda Parks have held jobs in the past, and Councilman Mike Markey is on disability leave from his job as a detective with the Compton Police Department.

Working 56-hour weeks and finding time for all his duties as an elected leader--not to mention for his wife and daughters--is often tough, Fox said. But he enjoys the challenge.

“Right now, I’m the only council member that’s actually working, and it costs me money to serve, because I don’t make the overtime money that a lot of firefighters and police officers do,” Fox said.

“But I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. It means a lot to me.”