Northwood Mayor Mark Stoner will nominate a new part-time fire chief at the next city council meeting on Aug. 25, according to a memo obtained by The Press.

The memo, dated Aug. 9 from Administrator Dennis Recker to officers and members of the Northwood Fire Department, states that Stoner will nominate Joel Whitmore to the fire chief position.

“The appointment is unofficial until council confirms the mayor’s appointment,” states Recker in the memo. “However, please be advised that Whitmore is authorized to immediately begin his transition into the chief’s position. Deputy Chief Tim Romstadt will continue in his current position and continue to perform the official administrative chief duties until further official notice.”

The city has been without a fire chief since Romstadt, the former full-time chief, resigned last April. Romstadt agreed to handle the duties of chief in his part-time position as deputy chief until the fire chief’s position is filled.

Stoner told The Press on Wednesday that Whitmore works full-time for the Perrysburg Fire Department as well as in the Northwood Fire Department.

Council had advertised for a full-time chief to replace Romstadt, but had also been considering making the position part-time to save money.

Recker narrowed the resumes to four finalists, according to Stoner. Each was interviewed by Recker, Stoner, and Councilman Randy Kozina, said Stoner.

“The resumes came in and Dennis ranked each one according to specific criteria, such as experience and education,” said Stoner. “He then tallied up the numerical rankings, and we interviewed the top four qualifiers.”

Whitmore ranked as the top candidate, said Stoner.

Full-time vs. part-time
Hiring a full-time chief was among several recommendations made by Dr. David Miramontes, Northwood’s former EMS medical director, following the death of a Northwood resident who had to wait several minutes for help to arrive after his wife called 9-1-1 on March 3.

Miramontes, made 14 recommendations to Stoner for adequate staffing, supervision and deployment of resources in the fire department. Among the recommendations was to hire a full-time chief. Miramontes believed a full-time chief would improve morale, promote recruitment, enhance training and provide oversight to the EMS mission.

Stoner, however, preferred that a part-time chief be appointed, with savings going toward reinstituting a dedicated EMT crew from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. to respond to EMS calls. The crew had been cut last year as the city struggled financially with its budget, which saw a steep drop in revenue due to the recession.

Council on July 7 voted 5-1, with Councilman Dave Gallaher opposed, to make the chief’s position part-time.

Council has put off action on a proposed Advanced Life Support system proposed by Stoner until a new chief is appointed to offer input on the process. Stoner’s plan, which must be approved by council, guarantees a paramedic will respond to an emergency medical call. Currently, EMT’s and/or paramedics respond to such calls.

Stoner proposed the ALS program after a series of stories appeared in The Press earlier this year about Tim Mix, of Parc Rue, who had to wait 28 minutes for the Northwood volunteer Fire Department to arrive on the morning of March 3.

Mix had stopped breathing after his wife Ellen called 9-1-1 three times that morning. He later died in Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center due to brain damage as a result of a lack of oxygen, according to his widow.

The difficulty in getting someone to the scene was evident when Northwood eventually dispatched an ALS rescue squad from Lake Township, which has a mutual aid agreement with Northwood, to the Mix home.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed