Granby Interim deputy chief, chief of fire department appointed

Date: 8/11/2021

GRANBY – The Granby Selectboard appointed firefighter Micheline Turgeon as interim fire chief and Lt. Tyler Yvon as deputy chief after Interim Chief Robert Czerwinski officially retired from the department.

Appointment Discussion

The Selectboard met first on July 30 to discuss the appointment of an interim fire chief. Selectboard President Jennifer Silva said the day of the meeting, July 30, was Czerwinski’s last day as he was entering retirement. She expressed her thanks to Czerwinski for “setting up the department” over the course of the last year.

Town Administrator Christopher Martin said he’d spoken with legal counsel for the town, who advised they make it well known to whomever they chose as interim chief would be required to agree to resign when a permanent fire chief was chosen. Member Glen Sexton clarified that this stipulation would be written into the contract for the interim chief, which Martin said it would be, adding that he would seek counsel to draft the contract. Sexton also said he wanted to add that the interim chief would be unable to make promotions, adding that they were looking at a one to two month appointment for the interim chief position.

However, Silva said she felt that was “ambitious” and felt the appointment would be closer to a three to six month appointment with “six [months] being the max.”           

Sexton said he would like the board to expedite the process as much as possible, and while Martin agreed he said it was largely dependent on the members of the search committee. “It’s been in limbo for several years, I’d like to expedite it, get this done,” Sexton said.

Silva added that she wanted the committee to be as thorough as possible, while committee member Richard Beaulieu said he wanted to take their time to choose the best possible candidate. Beaulieu went on to say he didn’t want to “handicap the chief” by adding the stipulation that they would be unable to make promotions. “If something happens down the line that they have to promote someone, then they have to promote someone,” he said.

Martin suggested that the stipulation that promotions be approved by the Selectboard in case of an emergency. All members agreed that, if legal and possible, this would be the best solution to ensure a system of “checks and balances.”

Fire Lt. Bill Bragiel, who was in attendance at the meeting, said while he agreed with Sexton that the permanent chief should be able to “select their own command staff.” However, “The guy that’s in there is going to make decisions so that he can surround himself with the people that he needs to have the job done,” he said. Bragiel added he felt as though those positions should also be temporary as there should be a process for promotions and they “shouldn’t just be handed out.”

Silva said looking at the candidates they had for interim chief, she didn’t think they’d “go on a promoting spree,” but liked the idea of having checks and balances in place. Martin said they had received four letters of interest from Lt. Gene Os, Yvon, Turgeon and Bragiel. He added Yvon and Turgeon were “out on the ambulance” during the meeting, but had wanted to attend the meeting. Os, he said, had left for vacation the day of the meeting and was returning on Aug. 4.

Sexton said both he and the board had the chance to interview three of the candidates previously and asked Beaulieu if he felt he needed to meet with the candidates prior to making a decision. Beaulieu said when he was appointed as a liaison for the department on behalf of the Selectboard he’d had the chance to speak with two of the candidates. The board then had a brief interview with Bragiel to give him the opportunity to share a little bit about himself with the board. He said he’d been with the Granby Fire Department since 1991 and had served as an EMT for about 20 years. He said he had recently let his certifications expire and had not renewed them.

He gave an overview as to why he chose not to renew his certifications including the increased rigorous nature of the testing process and the difficulty of the testing, he said, should he be considered for the position of permanent fire chief, he would go through the process to recertify his EMT credentials. “I would have to retake a course, I would do it on my own time, and get my EMT back, that would be my goal,” he said. “Any of  the certifications I would need to fulfill the position, I would be more than willing to find the time frame that you guys would actually allow me to get those certifications.”

Bragiel, who owns and operates his own construction business, said over the years he had gained managerial experience through the operation of his company to lead the Fire Department. “My big philosophy on the Fire Department is keeping everybody safe, making sure they have the tools to do their job and just supervise them and guide them along and let them do their job,” he said.

He said one of the most significant challenges with the department was “there’s a lot of personalities” and “people tend to do their own things here and there.” He went on to say “communication and guidance is a big part of the Fire Department.” Beaulieu asked if communication was a “problem” and how Bragiel would solve such a problem should it arise.

Bragiel said he wouldn’t call it a “conflict,” but rather an “inconsistency.” Bragiel said he felt leading by example was the best way to address the problem and hold people accountable. He said communication and standards were “critical” in fire safety.

“The hardest part about being a chief is you have to be an advocate for your firefighters, you have to be an advocate for the town and you have to be an advocate for your budget,” he said. He went on to say he felt “financial responsibility” should be an important aspect of the next fire chief, whomever was chosen. He emphasized that it was not the chiefs or the firefighter’s department, but rather the Town of Granby’s Fire Department and everyone should have the opportunity to have input regarding decisions such as purchases.

“My goal, if I were to get the chief’s job or even the interim job, is to bring back that feeling that everybody is relevant. Without that feeling you don’t get the commitment, you don’t get the response, you don’t get the interest you need from these memories,” he added.

When asked if he would be able to do the interim job, which was full time, with his business actively, he said this was something that had “kept me up at night” as he was “successful” in what he had done. However, he said he was hoping to navigate the hours at least during the interim time to “find a way to meet those hours” to ensure the department was effectively run while also maintaining his business, should he not get the job.

Yvon was able to attend the meeting, allowing Beaulieu to get to speak to him prior to the board making a decision regarding the appointment of the interim chief. Yvon, who is a South Hadley resident, said he had been with the department for 13 years and had a master’s degree in public administration which he said was “more specialized in fire services,” and a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management. He said he’d also taken a variety of certification courses through the Massachusetts Fire Academy.

When asked why he wanted to be interim chief, Yvon said he felt like he had “a good perspective in the department” and had been there for a long time, stating he was the “longest serving full timer right now.” He said, “I feel like I’ve built a good rapport with members of the Fire Department and I’ve been progressive and loyal and dedicated and passionate about it.”

When asked about the command structure for the department and how he would structure it, should he be made interim chief, Yvon said he has had “many visions over the years” which had changed with the environment of the department. “Right now we’re in a special case where we do have all lieutenants, but we need some structure there. It’s difficult. I would be looking for us to have a deputy chief at times, certain times, a couple captains and the rest lieutenants. I mean we need something,” he said.

Beaulieu asked if he’d be able to fund the positions based on the budget, to which Yvon said “probably not” at this time, especially considering he didn’t think the deputy chief position had been budgeted for. He said while it would not require a substantial amount of funds to restructure the department, he would implement the changes slowly as he didn’t believe the budget would be able to handle a significant amount of restructuring at once. When asked about conflict within the department, he said he believed it didn’t “hold up progress.”

Prior to leaving the meeting, Sexton said they should establish who would be in charge of the department before making their final decision the following week on Aug. 4. Yvon confirmed with Silva that he was the senior lieutenant of the department and she said the board was in agreement that Yvon would be in charge of the department until the final decision was made.

Final Decision

Their final decision about interim chief was made following the interviews for police chief during their Aug. 4 meeting. Sexton proposed assigning both an interim chief and an interim deputy chief. “Moving forward over the past year, we had a person leading the department that was a chief for many years, well qualified, well experienced in that position,” he said, adding that he felt two people working together to run the department would be best.

Sexton said “with regards to the budget” neither position would be allowed to make large purchases or promotions without going through the Selectboard first. Both Silva and Beaulieu agreed that a deputy chief position was a good idea and that once the permanent position of chief was filled, that candidate could decide if they wanted to keep the deputy chief position on board or not. Sexton added that he felt it should be added into the deputy chief’s contract that they would also resign when a permanent chief was appointed.

Silva went on to make a motion to appoint Yvon as deputy chief. She said while he had withdrawn his letter to become interim chief, “in talking to him the timing was just not right for him.” She said, “I think he would be a very good asset to the department in that role, so I think deputy chief would be appropriate.” However, Sexton said he would recommend Bragiel as he would be able to bridge the gap between full-time firefighters and the on-call firefighters.

“That was based on Mr. Bragiel’s quick interview that we gave to him promptly, and I like a lot of the things he was saying especially with the call piece,” he said. Sexton went on to express that he didn’t know Yvon was not “considering himself for chief” and was “disappointed” to hear that. Beaulieu agreed that Yvon would be a good fit for deputy chief, but Sexton said he was worried if  Yvon wasn’t ready to be chief, if he had the “time and commitment” to be deputy chief.

Silva said she was concerned that Bragiel’s schedule would not allow for him to commit enough time to the department. After Sexton said he wanted to make sure Yvon would want the position of deputy chief, Yvon was invited to speak to the board. He said he was not able to take the interim chief position due to the time commitment,     “I don’t want to commit to something I have questions over.” He added that the deputy position “was more of a job that fit me best.”   

Yvon said while he was “not unreachable” he didn’t want to “commit to something more than what I’m comfortable with in my life,” but added that he had already been to the station two times that day, which happened to be his day off. Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to approve Yvon for the position of deputy chief.

Sexton said while he was in favor of Bragiel due to his experience and knowledge of the department, he was concerned about his time commitment. “I’m torn, really, to look at the candidates we have, they’re all qualified really,” he said.     

After some discussion, Sexton made a motion for Os to become the interim chief. However, due to a lack of second, the motion failed.  Beaulieu then made a motion for Turgeon to become interim chief, which Silva supported.