Our department is about to lose a 43 year veteran officer who is the "ranking" paid position for our department. We have 4 paid positions ( 1 deputy chief, 2 assistants, 1 secretary ) and around 30+ volunteers. For as long as most can remember the "Chief" position has been held by a volunteer elected by the membership as well as other line officers of captains and lieutenants. These are the operational officers and we also have the organizational officers of president, vp, treas, etc...

The city is now proposing that we change this when our "old man" ( in an honorable tone ) retires and make the new lead position the "Chief".

I was wondering how other similar sized departments are organized and how the organization is managed with both paid and volunteers work together.

All 3 paid positions respond to calls primarily during the day, but they ofter respond after hours as well.

Since I'm new to the organization I'm not sure what the best way to do this is, so I figured I'd try to collect some data from other departments and see what works for others.

you can send your e-mail directly to me at shawn@shreves.org

Thanks,