Three finalists for Mountain View Fire Chief

The Mountain View Fire Protection District is entering the final stages of selecting the next fire chief.

The board has narrowed the field of 17 candidates down to three, Dave Beebe, Shelby Willis and David Mann. Beebe has been serving as interim chief since 2016 since former chief Mark Lawley a year before his contract was to expire.

Bill Peterson of Florida-based Strategic Government Resources, a municipal government consulting firm, said that the board has a good field to choose from.

“The three finalists are very well-qualified for the position,” Peterson said. “Really the entire search generated quite a bit of interest. The department has an excellent reputation, and it was a pretty well-sought-after position.”

Peterson handles all of the fire services, EMS and emergency management consulting for the firm, which he said is the third-largest in the nation. This, he added, is why MVFPD received so many candidates from all over the country.

“Part of our process on the front end is that we talk to the board and individuals within the district to get their input on the type of individual that they feel the fire chief needs to be successful,” Peterson said. “We then develop a position profile — sort of an advertising piece. In the case of Mountain View, it was eight pages long. It talked about various communities, the department itself, the composition of the board and the duties of the fire chief, basically what a successful candidate looks like.”

The candidates were originally narrowed down to four by the board, but one took a position elsewhere.

Interviews this week will be on-site at the district’s headquarters.

“We manage the process,” Peterson said. “I’m the subject matter expert that answers the questions the board has. But they are the ones that actually make the selection choices through the process.”

He said that he thinks the board will come back with a decision soon.

“I think we have three immensely qualified candidates,” Peterson said. “If I do my job right, it’s the board that has the difficult decision to pick the one they believe will best meet their needs and expectations.”

“I would hope that by the end of next week or the week after, the board will have made a selection for the next fire chief.”