Oak Grove City Council — Transcript
Monday, October 12, 2026
Discussion on Transitioning to a Full-time Fire Chief Position
Votes (1)
Discussion on Transitioning to a Full-time Fire Chief Position
Dissent: Council members expressed a strong need for more data and a detailed job description before making a decision, indicating a desire for thorough justification rather than outright opposition to the proposal.
The primary discussion centered on the necessity and implications of converting the part-time fire chief role to a full-time position. It was noted that the current chief, Rob Engler, functions effectively as a full-time employee due to his retirement from a previous career, a situation deemed unlikely to be duplicated by future part-time chiefs. Arguments for a full-time chief included the city's significant growth, increased call volume, the opening of a new fire station, the need for consistent leadership presence, enhanced emergency management, and proactive grant seeking. Council members emphasized the need for a revised, detailed job description for a full-time role, outlining expected duties, responsibilities, and a clear compensation plan, along with data on tasks not currently being completed due to the part-time structure. Concerns were raised about the ability to attract qualified candidates for a part-time role given the demands, and the risk of using the part-time chief role as a stepping stone.
Notable Quotes (6)
He's essentially functioning as a full-time employee. And between him and the current assistant chief, they certainly are.
There just never never is enough time. There There even even with what's going on, there's so many things I don't have time for that it because I am, quote unquote, part-time, right?
I think the the the department looks different with a part-time chief versus a full-time chief. And like, when I said that before about the part-time chief, no no slight to the former part-time chief at all. It's just him as most part-time chiefs would be, they have another full-time job somewhere else. They just don't have time and the ability to spend as much time as a person like Rob has who's retired from his day job. And I don't think we will duplicate that if we go out to look for another part-time chief when Rob decides to hang it up in the very near future.
I need something that's brought to me that says, "Here's the full-time position. Here's what we expect that full-time position to do." So, that it it actually fills in with what John's asking cuz now it explains to him, "This is the duties of a full-time. This is" You could even have what your part-time is currently, but I think we need a new job description for a full-time.
This is sort of to my point is we don't know. We don't have all the data to make a decision whether it should be what he he could get done in 20 hours or not... I need to see the data.
What things are we not doing because he's not a full-time chief? Are we being proactive on all our grants? Are we doing all the training we should be? Or we're doing the core that we have to because I don't have enough time to plan all the rest.
Ordinances & Resolutions (5)
An application submitted by the city to fund the potential full-time fire chief position, currently pending.
Includes funding for the potential full-time fire chief position.
Existing document for a part-time chief, requires updating for a full-time role.
Needs to be updated to include the full-time fire chief position and its compensation schedule.
Identified as a system that has significantly increased the administrative workload for the fire department.