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BOARDMAN -- The township has taken a staffing hit in recent months, especially in leadership positions, and a meeting held Tuesday night suggests trustees are taking it seriously.
Boardman Township trustees convened to address one of the two open vacancies at the command level during an executive session.
"It's a special meeting where they're going right into executive session to conduct interviews with three firefighters who are qualified for the captain's position," said Township Administrator Mark Ragozine.
Ragozine said the three firefighters – Steve Stilson, Stephen "Bobby" Patrick and Jim Hoover - all passed the required civil service exam.
The position is open after Capt. William Ferrando left in August to join the Cardinal Joint Fire District in Canfield. His departure came at the same time former Boardman fire Chief Mark Pitzer left to become Cardinal's new assistant chief.
Pitzer departed Boardman on Aug. 7 and Assistant Chief William Glaser has assumed the role.
Boardman's command includes three assistant chiefs (one for each turn) - Glaser, Brian Barber and Rob John; three captain spots - Shawn Conroy, Gary Hemphill and one vacancy; and two fire prevention lieutenants.
Earlier this year, BFD promoted firefighter Troy Haire to lieutenant, filling the vacancy left by Tom Donadee, a 30-year veteran of the force who died in December from occupational cancer. Haire joined Lt. James Yocum in the fire prevention office.
While Glaser operates as interim chief, the captain on duty also assumes most of the assistant chief's duties, even though Glaser still technically holds the position.
In addition to the captain's vacancy, trustees also have narrowed their search for a new chief down to two finalists after meeting Oct. 5 with five top candidates.
Ragozine said they will meet again Oct. 19, with the hope of deciding between Glaser and Youngstown Fire Department Battalion Chief Fred Beehler.
If Beehler is selected, Glaser will return to the assistant chief's role. If Glaser moves permanently into the chief's office, Ragozine said, that means at least one of the department's two other captains likely would apply for the assistant chief's position, which would create another vacancy at captain.
Ragozine said the department is staffed with 33 personnel right now and is authorized to be at 38, but given the department's and the township's finances, Boardman is only focusing on the command positions for the moment.
"We are not hiring any additional firefighters until we have a better idea of what the 2027 budget and subsequent years will look like. We're in the process of planning for 2027 now," Ragozine said.
IAFF Local 1176 President Brian Hallquist said staffing has been a problem for at least 18 months, the last time the department was staffed at 36 firefighters.
Since summer alone, he said, they have lost Pitzer, Ferrando, one firefighter to Rocky River near Cleveland and another to the city of Alliance. Hallquist said there is another firefighter retiring at the end of this month and two more after the new year.
Hallquist said the union prefers not to comment on command hires, but the personnel problem in the lower ranks is real.
"The OT is every day and many days OT doesn't get filled," he said. " We're running with two guys on fire trucks (there should be at least three)," he said. "But that's why this levy means so much, that gets our staffing back up."
Boardman is seeking a 2.75-mill, five-year safety services levy on the Nov. 3 ballot, expected to generate $3,772,795 annually, which will be split evenly between police and fire.
In addition to lighter staffing on fire apparatus, Hallquist said, the township also has to rely almost entirely on Lane LifeTrans for ambulance coverage. He said the township's own ambulance only operates on the rare days when the department is fully staffed. Otherwise it serves only for high school football games and other private events.
"That's something that's going to get progressively worse before it gets better," he said.
Hallquist said Lane is not doing anything wrong, but it serves multiple communities, which leaves Boardman uncovered at times.
"They go where demand is at the time," he said.
Hallquist said proper staffing would allow for regular ambulance operation, something he noted that other nearby communities maintain, including Poland's Western Reserve Joint Fire District, Cardinal, Green Township, Springfield Township and the city of Struthers.