http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.fire3apr17,0,6687111.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
NORWALK -- When the hiring of a new fire chief was announced earlier this month, officials neglected to spotlight the historic significance of their choice.
This is the first time they will have to answer to a leader -- Westport Fire Chief Denis McCarthy -- who did not rise through Norwalk's ranks, firefighters said.
"For some, it's been a contentious issue to go outside," said retired police Sgt. Patrick Morris, head of Norwalk Community College's Public Safety Academy, who served on the chief search committee.
Morris said the city's Personnel Department instructed members not to discuss details of the hiring process, so he could not comment further.
Fire Capt. Ed Prescott said none of the three applicants who came from within the Norwalk department were interviewed.
"It's a slap in the face," Prescott said, adding others might have applied, but "once (the search) went nationwide you could tell where it was going."
Outside experts on fire department management said Norwalk is one of the few municipalities in the Northeast catching on to the nationwide trend of recruiting leadership from beyond its borders.
"If you're in an area where you're early to the idea of spreading your net wide, there's some risk" for backlash, said Richard Brady, president of the California-based Matrix Consulting Group.
Matrix was hired by the city to draft a 10-year plan for facilities and equipment upgrades at the fire department. One of McCarthy's priorities after he takes over May 2 is to oversee its implementation.
"Twenty, 30 years ago, almost everywhere in the United States recruited internally," Brady said. "But organizations realized the best management talent may be elsewhere. . . . Doing national recruitment is a little less common in New England, but it's growing."
Glenn Corbett, assistant professor of fire science with John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said New England comes late to the trend because of the age of its fire departments and the tradition that breeds.
"I'm not saying they're not progressive, but they have a much longer history of promoting from within," Corbett said.
Norwalk firefighter and former union president Martin O'Marra said the only time the department flirted with hiring a chief from outside its ranks was several decades ago when it turned to the volunteer fire department of Rowayton, a historic waterfront neighborhood within city limits.
"So he's technically a Norwalk chief," O'Marra said.
Prescott said he believes there is a practical reason departments in the Northeast have been slow to embrace nationwide chief searches.
"New England's the oldest part of the country, so you get more fires in older buildings in the northeastern corridor," Prescott said. "It's different from West Coast or Midwest firefighting."
Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy has tapped two outsiders to run the city's police department -- and weathered some criticism for doing so.
"If I lived in Norwalk, I would expect letters saying 'Don't we have somebody good enough?' " Malloy said about McCarthy's hiring. "But the reality is if your policy is to hire the best available and you set that as your standard, people will accept it. Sometimes it's a local candidate, sometimes it's not, but they'll trust your judgment."
That McCarthy was hired from a neighboring town should "soften the blow to some extent," Corbett said.
"I would think a new person from an adjoining community would have a much better understanding of how the whole area works," he said.
Corbett said the benefits of hiring an outsider to a fire department are the new ideas "in terms of management practices, organization, deployment of resources."
"In some cases, it's welcomed by the rank and file (as) a breath of fresh air," Corbett said. "They've been stagnating and wanting to try new things, but couldn't."
A source within the Norwalk fire department who wished to remain unnamed said "there are a handful of guys that could have been the chief" but that the rank and file will give McCarthy the benefit of the doubt.
"A new guy coming in might not be a bad idea," the source said. "I know all the guys are saying 'we're going to give him a fair shot.' "
Prescott agreed.
"We'll support him, work with him and hope he works with us," he said.
In an interview Friday, McCarthy said one of his goals as chief will be to "enhance the professionalism that already exists" within the Norwalk Fire Department "so when they are replacing me . . . they'll be very strong, capable candidates from within."
That apparently is the case in Westport. First Selectwoman Diane Farrell said she is "inclined to hire from within" and expects to make an announcement Tuesday.
"I feel very fortunate. We have some depth on the bench and in this instance I will be able to promote from within," Farrell said.
"I think succession planning needs to be part of any administration," McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he can understand how frustrating it is for individuals within a department to be passed over for promotion.
A 28-year veteran of the Westport department, McCarthy was appointed chief in 2002 after being passed over for the job in the mid-1990s. A candidate from Wilton was selected at the time.
"I certainly was disappointed," McCarthy said. "As a professional, I felt it was my responsibility to support that chief as his second in command and do whatever was necessary to make him successful and maybe my time would come. Fortunately, it did."
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