Teri Black and Co. Heading Fire Chief Search
December 9, 2015 – Executive search firm Teri Black and Company has been retained by the City of Santa Monica to lead its search for a new fire chief. Michael Earl, the city’s human resources manager, said the highest annual salary being considered for a new chief is $271,572, or a four percent increase over the yearly salary earned by former fire chief Scott Ferguson when he left to lead the Murrieta Fire Department in April.
Last year, local firefighters and paramedics in the city responded to 14,000 incidents — about 80 percent of which were emergency medical calls, fire officials said. EMS calls jumped 7.6 percent last year.
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County. The city’s population is 89,736 and its fire department has 129 firefighters.
Based in Los Angeles, Teri Black & Company offers executive search services to public sector clients. Following a distinguished career in local and federal government, Ms. Black entered the executive search field in 1999. Serving clients in California, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, she has recruited for every discipline in the public sector.
The firm is currently leading the search for a new fire chief for the City of Mountain View and has recently filled the fire chief roles for the City of Huntington Beach as well as Redwood City.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
