MASON CITY – The last time the Mason City council hired a fire chief, it was more or less a disaster, and now they are trying to get it right with a list of finalists to replace the departed Al Dyer, who was known for his flashy ways at Mason City bars.
The City of Mason City is considering five candidates for the Fire Chief position that has been vacant since late 2017. Doug Janssen is currently serving as Mason City’s Interim Fire Chief. The candidates will be in Mason City for the interview process on June 10 and 11.
The five finalists for the Fire Chief vacancy are:
- Erik Bullinger, Battalion Chief with the Burlington Fire Dept.
- Brian Giachino, District Fire Chief with the Cedar Rapids Fire Dept.
- Les Norin, Fire Captain with the Davenport Fire Dept.
- Jarrod Wellik, Fire Chief with the Newton Fire Dept.
- James Zarek, Deputy Fire Chief with the DeKalb, IL Fire Dept.
In April 2018 the City began an extensive search to begin the process of filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Fire Chief Al Dyer, who quit, but not before Councilman John Lee leaked a sensitive memo on his status, leading to a sizable payoff of taxpayer funds to help Dyer get out of the fire station. Following this search, a list of 16 qualified candidates was certified by the Mason City Civil Service Commission last month. We will be conducting interviews of five finalists from this list on June 11th. A key component of the interview process will be an external assessment panel coordinated by Caylor Consulting utilizing Fire Chiefs from around the state of Iowa. It is expected that a final selection will be announced in late June by Interim City Administrator Kevin Jacobson for confirmation by the City Council.
7 thoughts on “Mason City tries to get it right this time with hiring of fire chief”
John Leaaaaaker lol how is he still in office
They won’t promote from internal because the HR director is a weasel and wants to make sure they have a “yes man.” They had the opportunity to look internal but instead want someone who can come in and do take the fall. I give the next Chief 3 years, max.
It is odd they can’t find a qualified candidate from Mason City that is currently working in the Fire Department. The only real qualifications are the passion to be fireman, leadership skills, and some common sense to lead the Fire Department.
Have you ever thought that may be no one wanted to apply for the job, or nobody has the credentials for the chief position. Just because they are fireman doesn’t mean they are qualified. There are different levels of firefighters.
the city has taken to the mood of lets hire outside the department, if no one qualifies in the dept why are they still there. city has had their face in the “pig shit” before. take jack schlieper for one, he cost the city thousands if not millions of dollars while he was here. when he left he got quite a hefty amount of money just like Dyer did. Plus all the damage he did to the department while he was here, then he went off to Witcata (sp)falls tx where he did the same thing, around 2 yrs like here and fired like here. Then there was lashbrooke, real nice guy, one of the best youd like to meet, but what did he do while in his tenure?? and now the one they have now, whats his name? He came in knowing some of the officers as he interned here, then put them on the top of his “good boy” list, they can do no wrong, oh by the way schlieper was the same way, he promoted two of his “good ol boys” with them only being around for a yr or so. He had it in for the “older” guys, he was heard saying, they are to old to change but the young guys will follow me.
shame?? qualified people should only be the ones promoted, and IF those people want the job. Next thing you will say gotta hire blacks or women or whatever —-just because
Q U A L I F I E D no matter who applies…….
It is a damn shame the don’t promote someone who is currently in our fire department.