SIDNEY — The Civil Service test scores of the three candidates vying for the soon to open Sidney fire chief position were certified by the Civil Service Commission during its Wednesday morning hybrid-style teleconference meeting.
Sidney Fire Chief Brad Jones is retiring; his last official day with the Sidney Department of Fire and Emergency Services is Nov. 10.
Commission members immediately went into an executive session after approving the previous meeting’s minutes. Upon emerging from the session, the commission certified the scores and ranking of the three candidates who tested, including: Sidney Deputy Fire Chief Chad Hollinger, Sidney Fire Assistant Chief Dallas Davis, both of Sidney, and Graylin Stargell, of Streetsboro. Stargell is a fire instructor and instructor of fire officers I and II at the University of Akron. Stargell previously was an instructor of fire officers I and II at Bowling Green State University and is retired from the Shaker Heights Fire Department in Ohio.
City of Sidney Human Resources Manager Vickie Allen reported Hollinger ranked No. 1 of the three, with a final composite score of 81.38%; Stargell ranked second, with a score of 69.30%; and Davis ranked third, with a score of 65.20%.
Allen said all of the information will be sent to Sidney City Manager Mark Cundiff, and he will make the decision about the next steps and who will receive the job offer for the Sidney fire chief position.
“The top three were certified today of their scores and ranking. And at this particular stage of it, we are down to the final three, and it is now up to the city manager to make a final decision,” Allen said.
Cundiff had yet to review the test scores that were certified by Civil Service Commission when he spoke with the Sidney Daily News Wednesday morning.
“I’ll look at the three candidates and make a decision if I’ll meet with all three, or only two, or, I don’t know yet what my next steps will be,” Cundiff said. “I’ve already made a decision to have Chad Hollinger, the deputy chief, as the acting fire chief until the until (Fire Chief) Brad (Jones) is off the payroll (while he is on vacation). But my hope is to have a new fire chief, whoever that may be, ready to start the day after Brad is no longer on the payroll.”
At the end of the civil service meeting, Allen told commission members at their next meeting the commission will certify the Civil Service scores for entry level Sidney firefighter and police officer positions. Interested candidates to become an officer had until Sept. 30 to apply with the city and will begin testing on Oct. 25.
Allen told SDN they have a good hiring process to fill city of Sidney fire and police positions.
“It is a lot of different tests. It is a long drawn-out process, but it has been a very good process for the city of Sidney that we have used now through two police chief hirings, and now this is the second fire chief have been hired,” she said.
Fire chief candidates had until Aug. 5, 2020, to apply for the position.
Sidney Fire is in the process of hiring and making position changes due multiple retirements over the last year. The department is seeking entry level firefighters. Interested candidates have until 4 p.m. Oct. 30, 2020, to apply. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/34wdA5u.
