By Sue Moore
The South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority board voted to withdraw its search for a replacement for Chief Tracy McMillan. After a closed session, it set a $15,000 salary for the chief and will review his performance after 90 days. Over the last few months, McMillan’s job as fire chief has been in doubt. With this decision, the board signals it is not actively searching for a new fire chief.
Before McMillan’s request for the closed meeting, board members offered several motions: to move forward with McMillan in his current position with a salary of $25,000, to withdraw the job posting for a fire chief which offered a salary range between $15,000 to $20,000 and to set up a process for doing an annual evaluation of the chief’s performance.
Jason Gatlin was elected chair of the authority’s board to replace Brady Township Supervisor Randy Smith, who served in that position for three years. Secretary will be Todd Carlin, a member of the Schoolcraft village council. Colin Bailey, who accepted the role of vice chair, is the newly appointed representative from the Vicksburg Village Council. Gatlin also serves as Wakeshma Township Supervisor.
Future board meetings will be on the third Wednesday of each month at the EMS building in Vicksburg.