Mayor Warren Copeland said it wasn’t a surprise.
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“It’ll be a loss and we are beginning the process of selecting new chiefs,” Copeland said.
The city has a total six internal applicants — four for fire/rescue and two for police.
The candidates for fire chief are:
•Assistant Fire Chief Brian Miller has been a firefighter since 1992. His entire career has been with the city of Springfield. He’s also an adjunct faculty member with Clark State Community College.
•Battalion Chief Matthew Smith has been a firefighter since 1992. He was a volunteer with the Moorefield Twp. Fire Department for four years before joining Springfield in 1996. He’s also a fire instructor with Clark State.
•Lt. Korge Mori has been a firefighter since 2004 and became a lieutenant in 2010. He’s also a member of the Hazardous Incident Response Team.
•Firefighter/Paramedic Scott Kaufman has been a firefighter since 1989. He began with the Hustead Fire Department and still works there as well today. He began with Springfield in 2002. He’s also a fire and EMS instructor with Clark State.
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The candidates for police chief are:
•Capt. Lee Graf has been with the division since 1996. His entire police career has been with Springfield police. He’s also an instructor with Clark State.
•Lt. Thomas Zawada has been with the division since 1992. His entire police career has been with the city and he’s served as president of the Springfield Command Officers Association union.
The applicants have big shoes to fill, Copeland said.
“Not only do they need to know how to do the job but they also need to become administrators,” Copeland said.
The city is looking for someone who also can build morale, he said. That’s because both departments have had tight budgets and high turnover rates in recent years.
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“We understand a portion of that. We are not paying them at the same level as some of our competitors in the region,” Copeland said. “We need to try and build enough morale that people feel … working for Springfield, is worth it, even if they don’t think they are getting paid quite as much as they should.”
Springfield Fire/Rescue Chief Nick Heimlich said the next chiefs must have a relationship with the community. He’s currently involved in several area nonprofits and hopes to continue to do so after he retires.
“They are looking for an individual invested in the community,” Heimlich said.
The city needs chiefs with depth and breadth of experience, Heimlich said.
Springfield Police Chief Steve Moody has good community relations the mayor said and he hopes his successor will too. Moody couldn’t be reached for comment.
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“He has had very good relations, very good communication with people in the community and especially in the African-American community,” Copeland said. “And he has made certain in their yearly training that diversity training was a significant part of that training.”
That’s key to being a good police chief, the mayor said, because of community-police tensions nationwide.
The deadline for internal resumes has closed. The city manager will hold interviews in the next couple of weeks and hopes to name the new chiefs before the end of the year, Springfield Personnel Director Jeff Rodgers said. City commissioners will have to vote on the appointments.
The salary range for both positions is more than $77,000 to more than $98,500.
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