Title of N.M. County's Top Fire Officer Changed

LAS CRUCES - A recent question about the appropriate title for Doña Ana County's top fire official brought to the forefront a power struggle that's been simmering for years between county administrators and volunteer fire districts across the county.

County commissioners answered the question definitively when they voted unanimously earlier this month to change Robert Monsivaiz's title from "fire marshal" to "fire chief."

Monsivaiz said the move was necessary to reinforce authority he's had for years to enforce rules and regulations across the districts. But some volunteer fire personnel and chiefs saw the vote as an administrative shift that gives the volunteer districts less say.

The issue hearkens back to a 2007 County Commission decision that attempted to unify 16 volunteer fire districts throughout the county under a single umbrella. That move created a backlash from many districts, which had long operated semi-autonomously from county administration. Part of the reason behind the decision, officials said at the time, was to ensure volunteers were following human resources policies to reduce legal liability to the county. The commission passed a measure, billed as a compromise, that established a countywide fire department but required the top fire official — the county fire marshal — to collaborate with an association of firefighters and chiefs in decision-making. But it resulted in ambiguity about where the lines of authority were drawn.

The volunteer fire districts, which do include some paid personnel, stretch from Garfield in the northern part of the county to Chaparral and Santa Teresa in the south. In addition to responding to fires, some volunteers also are certified as EMS responders. And departments are dispatched to calls for help ranging from broken toes to heart attacks to car accidents, county officials said.

Monsivaiz said the ordinance change of 2007 "included a provision which made the fire marshal the official in charge of fire and emergency services in Doña Ana County."

"At that time, it probably would have been prudent to change the title of the job from fire marshal to fire chief," he said, noting it didn't happen.

Within the realm of firefighting, "fire marshal" is a title meant to describe a job that's geared more toward fire prevention than describing someone in charge of a department, which is a fire chief, Monsivaiz said. He said some districts were ignoring directives he'd send out because they didn't view his position as being higher-ranking. In addition, problems have been cropping up among some districts, such as failing to respond to emergency calls or not routinely filing incident reports. He said districts have a lot of rarely-driven specialty vehicles when they should be focusing on general-use vehicles. Monsivaiz said he believes county residents will see improvements in service with the recent ordinance changes.

"We believe there was a lack of accountability, and part of the issue was it wasn't clear enough to the districts on the authority the county has," Monsivaiz said.

Another of the changes to the county's ordinance entailed removing a provision requiring Monsivaiz, or whoever holds the job, to collaborate with the Fire Officers' Association, an entity that includes district fire chiefs and other personnel, when issuing rules. The revised measure, however, does call for Monsivaiz to get feedback from all the district chiefs before putting forward changes.

Arnold Diaz, district chief of the Las Alturas Volunteer Fire Department, opposed the revisions, saying they would "negatively affect the volunteer fire service in Doña Ana County." He said he was especially concerned about removing the requirement for collaborating with the FOA and contended keeping the provision did nothing to diminish the fire marshal's authority over fire districts and volunteers.

"Eliminating the collaboration between the fire marshal and the volunteers creates a projection of dictatorship," he said. "People across the county want a voice in their working conditions. Most paid employees have the option of unionizing and require management to listen to their concerns and negotiate for work conditions and benefits; volunteers don't have this ability to unionize."

In recent years, Monsivaiz said, attempts to promote rule changes countywide have been met with "quite a bit of resistance, and it backs us off from trying to accomplish it." He said, for instance, his office sought changes to a set of bylaws with the FOA. But after two and a half years of trying unsuccessfully to amend the less-than-20-page document, "we kind of set them aside." Also, he said the FOA often had to cancel meetings for lack of a quorum.

Even with the county commission's recent changes, Monsivaiz said the districts still will have input.

Doña Ana County Commission Chairman Billy Garrett said the commission is still expecting the county fire chief to work with volunteer district chiefs.

"We're wanting to reinforce the chain of command by clarifying the role of the (countywide) department," he said. "We're removing ambiguity."

Pete Bellows, district fire chief of the Organ Mountain Fire Department, said the volunteer districts are an integral part of their communities' fabric, something he doesn't want to see diminish.

"I hope that this does not take away the identities of the fire districts," he told said. "La Mesa Fire Department is very important. Organ Mountain Fire Department is very important to my community; that's who we are."

Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @AlbaSoular

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