Left, Stevens Point Alderman Mike Wiza asks the Police & Fire Commission why the City Council wasn’t informed that Fire Chief Tracey Kujawa could be leaving the city. (City-Times photo)

By Brandi Makuski

The Stevens Point Police & Fire Commission went into closed session Tuesday to discuss a plan for naming an interim fire chief in the event Tracey Kujawa is hired by the City of Wausau.

Kujawa, who has served as SPFD Chief for over two years, was named one of three finalists for Wausau Fire Chief last week. If she gets the job, she could leave the City of Stevens Point as soon as April.

But Kujawa said she hadn’t gone in search of the position.

“I deleted the email at first,” Kujawa said. “As I thought about it more and more, I’ve been here 22 years; if there was an opportunity available I’d be negligent in my personal goals if I didn’t go about taken steps to apply and go through the process.”

Fire Chief Tracey Kujawa (left) with Assistant Chief Bob Finn.

The Police & Fire Commission decided in closed session to work with Mayor Andrew Halverson and officials from the fire department over the next week to create a bullet list of actions city departments need to take to prepare for Kujawa’s potential departure, but officials from the commission would not elaborate on what those actions might be.

News of Kujawa’s potential move came as a surprise to officials outside the commission, to include Halverson and members of the City Council. The exception is Alderman Tony Patton, who serves on the Police & Fire Commission but the extent of Patton’s prior knowledge is unknown as he could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Alderman Mike Wiza said not informing the City Council wasn’t a good move for any form of open government- something the council recently complained of to Mayor Halverson.

“We (the council) just had a meeting about communication and cooperating and openness,” Wiza said, adding he wanted an explanation.

“I have concerns regarding finding out about Tracey’s finalist position in the newspaper, rather than from the commission,” Wiza said. “I understand that the commission was made aware of this and it didn’t trickle down to the mayor’s office or the alderpersons. I think I speak for other alderpersons when I say this: we want some form of explanation as to how this happened and some assurance it wouldn’t happen again.”

Wiza asked the explanation be distributed to the council through the city clerk’s office.

In a communiqué obtained by the City-Times, Mayor Andrew Halverson indicated he became informed some weeks after Kujawa had applied for the job. Halverson contacted the City Council by email of Kujawa’s finalist status the same day he was notified.

“I have just found out that our Fire Chief is a finalist for the position of Fire Chief in Wausau. I so sincerely apologize to you for finding out this way, but it will apparently be public tomorrow in Wausau,” Halverson wrote in a March 12th email. “Commissioners instructed the Chief not to tell me, and that they would: they never did. Out of respect for our good working relationship the Chief told me today; as she was aware the commissioners had not told me. I was very thankful for that. Again I am sorry for this and my concerns will be expressed to the Commissioners. I will keep you as posted as I can on the matter.”

Police & Fire Commission President David Schleihs said he wasn’t trying to hide information, but said the commission wasn’t required to inform city leaders Kujawa had applied for the job. He added state law currently keeps applicants’ names confidential unless they are named a finalist.

“I had been told that (Kujawa had applied) confidentially,” Schleis said, adding he did notify the mayor the same day he found out Kujawa had been named a finalist. “I mean, I just found out on Wednesday, so why would we need to disclose to the City Council right away?”

Schleihs said the commission alone is responsible for screening applicants and hiring a new fire chief. The commission meets again at 4 PM on Tuesday, March 25 at 4 PM in the city conference room at the courthouse.