Fire chief's contract up soon, but still no replacement

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 23, 2009 | by Jonathan Morales

Five months after Moraga-Orinda fire chief Pete Nowicki retired and was then rehired as a consultant, the district is still looking for his replacement.

The fire district is accepting applications for a permanent fire chief, although the search and hiring process could take two or three months.

If the district's board has a couple of months to decide on a new chief, it only has a about a week to decide something else -- whether Nowicki's contract will be extended, and for how long.

That contract is up at the end of June. Under the five-month contract, Nowicki makes $14,700 per month.

At the same time, he also receives a pension funded by the county Employees' Retirement Association. The pension, shared by many county law enforcement agencies, allows employees older than 50 to receive 3 percent of their highest annual salary for each year of service.

Nowicki was making about $185,000 a year when he retired at the end of January, but his annual pension payment increased after he converted unused vacation time and other compensation into cash.

Because he has no benefits under his consultant's contract, the district saves about $35,000 per six months.

And since county retirees can work in certain jobs up to six months per fiscal year and still draw their pension, Nowicki could theoretically work through the end of December, as the new fiscal year begins July 1.

Board of Directors President Pete Wilson said the board has not yet discussed extending Nowicki's contract, but would not be adverse to retaining him until a new chief is named.

That could rankle Moraga-Orinda firefighters who would rather see someone from within the department promoted until a permanent replacement is found, said Vince Wells, president of the local professional firefighters' union.

Wells said firefighters understood the need to hire Nowicki temporarily, but they are disappointed a permanent chief won't be in place by the end of the month.

"The department's goals and where the department's trying to get, that's put on hold until you have a permanent leader," he said.

Nowicki said the district has been working on getting a replacement, but that concurrently dealing with other large issues, such as labor negotiations and the district's strategic plan, has slowed the search.

Wilson said the board is just trying to ensure a thorough process.

"We take the amount of time that's necessary to do the job," he said.

Reach Jonathan Morales at 925-943-8048 or jmmorales@bayareanewsgroup.com.