Just over a month with the Sicamous Fire Department, the new chief has come under fire for not living in the community he serves.
At the May 22 regular meeting, council addressed a letter of concern in which writer Amy Boutwell said she was 含羞草研究社渟hocked含羞草研究社� to hear Chief Lorenzo Di Arcangelis bought a house in Salmon Arm.
含羞草研究社淚s it incumbent that the fire chief lives IN Sicamous?含羞草研究社� she asked. 含羞草研究社淎s a taxpayer, I am concerned if our paid fire chief is not available 24/7 locally 含羞草研究社� the same as our volunteers.含羞草研究社�
Boutwell added that though the department has a very capable assistant chief, she questioned why he should have to be the initial first responder outside of office hours 含羞草研究社渨hile the chief is in Salmon Arm?含羞草研究社�
Though district human resources manager Shawna Koll didn含羞草研究社檛 want to go into too much detail regarding personnel issues in a public meeting, she did say there is a command structure and rotating standby schedule in place that ensures there is a always a qualified member in charge. The department, she explained, is comprised of a deputy chief, two captains and four lieutenants, 含羞草研究社渟o there is a formal command structure with education and experience to ensure that at any incidents, there is somebody that can take command of an incident at any time.含羞草研究社�
Koll added that in larger centres, fire chiefs often act in an administrative capacity only, and don含羞草研究社檛 actually respond to calls, 含羞草研究社渂ut just for the record, our fire chief does respond to all calls.含羞草研究社�
Coun. Ian Baillie acknowledged Boutwell含羞草研究社檚 concern, saying other residents have spoken to him about having senior employees living in the community, but admitted that can be a challenge.
含羞草研究社淥bviously people don含羞草研究社檛 have to live in Sicamous, but there is a strong desire, I would say, based from constituents that they see that含羞草研究社� people are looking at that,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淏ut it is a small community and housing含羞草研究社檚 not always available here in Sicamous. It含羞草研究社檚 a challenge everywhere really, trying to find the right housing, the right schools and everything else.含羞草研究社�
In addition to council discussing the matter publicly, staff also sent a response to Boutwell directly.
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