The cash-strapped Rancho Adobe Fire District's proposals to replace its chief or merge with another department are causing dissent among its directors.
Board member Jim Ford said he was surprised when Ed Gee, the chairman of the board, told Chief Vern Losh an interim chief had been identified, because no public or closed-session meetings had been held.
Gee said he was only making a suggestion.
The proposed interim chief like Gee is a retired San Francisco Fire Department battalion chief. But Gee said the candidate, whose name wasn't made public, would have to be considered by the full board after several applicants were interviewed.
"It's something that would have to be approved by a majority of the board," he said. "I know several people who could possibly be interested in the job. I know one person that is really qualified to be on the job. That's as far as it's gone."
Board members are considering whether to replace Losh and Deputy Chief Jack Rosevear, who are working under a county contract with the district, with their own chief.
The board also is exploring merging with another department or seeking voter approval of a $240 parcel tax to keep its stations in Cotati, Penngrove and northwest Petaluma open 24 hours a day.
The district projects a deficit of roughly $50,000 in its preliminary budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year, Losh said.
The board is scheduled to discuss some of the issues at a 7 p.m. meeting tonight at the fire station in Cotati.
The south county fire district, which has 25,000 residents, has cut staff and juggled assignments to keep its stations open with a $2.4 million budget and a dozen firefighters.
Ford asked if board members weren't violating the state public meeting law by having an informal selection of an interim chief. But Gee and board member Leland Fishman said board members would have to decide if they want an interim chief and go through a selection process before anyone was hired.
"I believe it's overblown," Fishman said. "There will be no one rubber-stamped into a job."
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