Ben Rigney is a shoe-in for the job. The perfect fit.
With 13-plus years under his belt, Rigney is in line to serve as the next West Manatee fire chief.
In a Feb. 19 report to the five-member West Manatee Fire Rescue board, Commissioner Larry Jennis recommended the district take “the next step” — the commissioners’ individual interviews with Rigney.
The board came close to closing the hiring process, but backed off.
Rigney serves now as the district’s administrative battalion chief, backing up WMFR Chief Tom Sousa. He started his career at WMFR as a volunteer firefighter in October 2005 and became employed by the district Jan. 30, 2006.
“He’s exceptionally well qualified to be our next chief,” Jennis told the board, adding Rigney holds a master’s degree in public administration, paramedic certifications and is two years into a four-year International Fire Chiefs’ Association executive officer program.
The screening committee — Jennis as chair, East Manatee Fire Rescue Chief Lee Whitehurst and WMFR Battalion Chief Rich Jasinski — set up the internal candidate process requiring applicants to respond by Feb. 7.
Rigney, the only applicant, was interviewed by the committee a week later, Jennis said, adding he spoke to other WMFR officers, who “without exception, gave excellent recommendations.”
Rigney comes from a family of public employees, he added, including father John Rigney, who was a firefighter and served on the WMFR board, and grandfather Hugh Holmes Sr. and uncle Hugh Holmes Jr., who served the district as volunteer firefighters.
In discussing Rigney’s candidacy, Commissioner George Harris disclosed he and Rigney are relatives — his uncle and Rigney’s aunt are married. Several commissioners, including WMFR Commission Chair David Bishop, said they didn’t find a conflict with the relationship.
Bishop asked commissioners for a motion to close the internal candidate process, but Commissioner Al Robinson called such a move premature, and no motion was made.
Last year, Sousa announced he would retire in October.
At the commission’s January meeting, the chief recommended a June date for internal candidate selection, and if needed, an external search, and the commissioners agreed to Sousa’s secession plan.
The fire chief is the top administrative officer for the district, which operates on a $13.8 million 2018-19 budget including $5.6 million in reserves.
The chief’s contracted salary is $112,000.
Rigney said, “assuming all goes well,” and he’s chosen as the chief, he would then negotiate a contract with the district.
The district employs 35 firefighters and inspectors as well as six paramedics and four administrative personnel, including the fire chief, who serve an 18-square mile area with 19,824 parcels.
In other business, Harris proposed talking with South Manatee Fire Rescue’s fire chief about combining the administrative services of WMFR and SMFR, with Sousa or Rigney joining him in the discussions.
“It could be an alternative to replacing the chief or it could assist us,” Harris said.
At the outset of the fire chief search report, Bishop said he wanted to separate the administrative merger talks and fire chief issues.
Being “pragmatic,” Bishop said, he also favored talking with other districts and “didn’t see it as an attack on the culture we have here.”
Commissioner Randy Cooper pointed out the two districts could not merge all functions because they are not geographically contiguous.
“I don’t want anyone to get the impression we’re having financial issues,” Jennis said.
Robinson said, “I don’t think we’re top heavy in administration here. Who would we eliminate?”
Harris said he favors an interlocal agreement with SMFR to reduce administrative costs that could someday lead to a merger, by including the adjacent Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue district.
The board voted 3-2 to explore administrative opportunities with the SMFR. Robinson and Jennis dissented.