A Georgia city's chief is picked in only the second search opened to those outside the Tarpon Springs department.
By RICHARD DANIELSON, Times Staff Writer
Published October 15, 2005
TARPON SPRINGS - City officials announced late Friday they had hired the fire chief of Americus, Ga., to replace Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue Chief Kevin Bowman.
If approved by the City Commission on Tuesday, the appointment of Stephen R.M. Moreno would take effect Nov. 1.
Neither Moreno nor Tarpon Springs City Manager Ellen Posivach could be reached Friday night.
Mayor Beverley Billiris said she had not yet met Moreno but would tonight at the city's annual firefighters ball.
Based on what she's heard from Posivach, "his credentials were outstanding," Billiris said. She did not know how many candidates the city considered in its search and said she expected the commission would discuss Moreno's pay Tuesday night.
Billiris said she expects the new chief to bring in new ideas, provide strong leadership and build the morale of the department.
"I think (firefighters are) going to be pleased with the choice," she said.
In Georgia, Moreno is well respected by the people he supervises, said Americus Fire and Emergency Services engineer Benny Barry, who has a total of 22 years' experience with that city's fire department.
"They are very fortunate to be getting Stephen Moreno," Barry said of Tarpon Springs. "He is very, very knowledgeable about fire tactics. . . . He always has the facts to back up everything he's saying. He has just worked wonders with our small department here. We have just grown tremendously since he came here."
Americus Mayor Bill McGowan, a former firefighter himself, credited Moreno with bringing innovations to the department and successfully working to improve the city's insurance rating, which has brought better insurance rates to residents.
"He has performed very well for the city of Americus, and we, the council and the mayor, appreciate what he's done," McGowan said. "He comes in professionally with his proposals. They're well thought-out and the council has always received what he's presented in good fashion."
Moreno has been the fire chief in Americus since August 1993, according to a biography supplied by Tarpon Springs officials. Before that, he was deputy fire chief in Brunswick, Ga., where he had worked his way up through the ranks after joining that town's fire department in 1979. Moreno has an associate's degree from Brunswick College and graduated in 2002 from the National Fire Academy's executive fire officer program.
In Americus, which has a population of about 17,000, Moreno oversees a department of 54 people, including 12 engineers and 21 firefighter-emergency responders, according to the town's Web site. That department averages about 2,400 calls per year, and more than 1,700 of those are medical-related.
By comparison, Tarpon Springs has 37 firefighter-EMTs, firefighter-paramedics and officers, and responds to about 4,015 emergency calls per year.
Bowman was named chief in September 2002 to replace Harry Leonard. In March, he said he would leave the chief's job to return to firefighting as a district captain. Bowman has stayed on as chief while the city searched for his replacement.
The Tarpon Springs fire department always had named its chiefs from within its ranks, beginning with the city's first professional fire chief in 1947. The search for Bowman's replacement is the second time the city opened the search to outsiders.[Last modified October 15, 2005, 01:15:22]
