by Toby Cooper
Sounder Contributor
Holly vanSchaick has officially been appointed the new fire chief.
The Board of Fire Commissioners met on Aug. 21 to consider elevating vanSchaick, who initially served as assistant chief and then interim chief, to the position.
Chairman Tim Fuller noted that vanSchaick was hired two years ago in a competitive process that included the notion of succession, given the anticipated retirement of then-chief Scott Williams.
Fuller faced a divided room, reflecting the often contentious nature of BOFC proceedings. A flurry of letters and online postings – some polite, others less so – had been triggered by the board’s posted agenda. All urged the board to defer consideration of the chief’s appointment until after the November election.
“It would be shortsighted and spiteful to summarily appoint the … Interim Chief tomorrow, with the likelihood of a completely new BOFC only a few months away,” wrote former Orcas Fire and Rescue paramedic Patrick Shepler, who now lives in Florida.
“Please let the newly elected commissioners and the public have input for a new chief. The election is not that far away,” echoed John Erly, a retired 15-year veteran of the department and former fire commissioner from the early 1990s.
All letters urging deferral were read into the record. Fuller and the board also heard warm letters of support for vanSchaick’s elevation to chief from eight of OIFR’s career officers and nine volunteer station leaders.
“That’s the entire leadership team,” noted Fuller.
He underscored the commissioners’ oath of office, saying, “I get this feeling of delegitimizing the current commission. People are saying, ‘Don’t do anything – sit on your hands.’ Well, that’s NOT going to happen.”
Fuller recounted that vanSchaick was hired in a public process, competing against multiple applicants. Although public participation was tailored to COVID-era constraints, an open citizens’ forum of almost two dozen individuals interviewed two rounds of applicants from all over the U.S., including Texas, West Virginia, California and Oregon.
Without question, vanSchaick came out “Number 1” on all the important criteria, according to Fuller. And succession, he said, was part of the equation.
In her letter of intent to apply for the appointment of chief, vanSchaick offered that she “came to OIFR at the end of 2021, during a time of publicly broadcast turmoil within the department. The relationship … had eroded to the point of becoming largely dysfunctional. I have had the privilege to lead our department as we have healed and refocused on the guiding principle of OIFR: ‘Neighbors Serving Neighbors.’ In that last year, I have heard officers and non-ranked members quote this mission statement, grounded in the fact that our devotion has reunited us into a functional, efficient team.”
To help evaluate vanSchaick’s performance, the board hired All American Leadership, a leadership consultancy based in Irvine, CA. Staffed largely by ex-Air Force, ROTC, Navy SEAL, business leaders, and other high-profile figures, AALfeatures a “Fire Leadership Academy” that conducts workshops with fire departments up and down the West Coast.
AAL’s innovative process measures the vital signs of a fire department by scoring them on attributes of “culture,” “well-being,” and “anxiety.” You want the first two to score high and the third to be low – and at OIFR, they were.
Following their workshops here, CEO Rob Nielsen stated, “In my opinion, Chief vanSchaick ranks among the very best leaders I have worked with in the fire service … The commitment, empathy and compassion she demonstrates toward people, both on her team and within her service area, are inspiring.”
The board retreated to executive session, after which they voted unanimously to appoint vanSchaick as OIFR’s – and in fact San Juan County’s – first female fire chief. Seconds after the meeting adjourned and barely visible to the Zoom audience, a man approached the table and appeared to say something to Fuller. It was Erly.
“I owe all an apology,” he told the Sounder later. “Some of us on Orcas jumped to conclusions. … As it turns out, [the Board] made the right choice.”
On Tuesday, the Sounder caught up with vanSchaick after her first day in her new position. She begged forgiveness for appearing exhausted, having just returned from the scene of a deadly, pre-dawn vehicle accident requiring more than five hours of processing, communications, coordination of personnel, interface with law enforcement and notification of next of kin.
“This is what we do,” she said. “We help our people through good times and bad – ‘Neighbors Serving Neighbors.’ I love the work.”
