About 75 Troy Township residents and firefighters/medics waited more than an hour for township trustees and the new fire chief to emerge from executive session during a special trustees meeting the morning of Dec. 21.
About 75 Troy Township residents and firefighters/medics waited more than an hour for township trustees and the new fire chief to emerge from executive session during a special trustees meeting the morning of Dec. 21.
Trustee Len Barcikoski swore Jim Nix, of Solon, in with a lengthy oath. The crowd in the Troy Township Community House dining hall listened to Trustee Donn Breckenridge read the following trustees statement:
“After an exhausting and diligent search in our attempt to find a qualified fire chief to protect and serve our community, the township trustees have decided to offer the position to candidate James Nix.
“James Nix is an Army veteran and was a career firefighter with the City of Solon, retiring as a full-time lieutenant. While with Solon, he served as a fire protection officer, arson investigator, fire safety inspector and paramedic, as well as being trained in mentoring new firefighters in firefighting techniques and safety procedures.
“James Nix was a volunteer in Auburn Fire Department for 2019 to 2022 and an assistant fire chief with Troy Township from 2017 to 2020. Subsequently, he knows the community atmosphere, its neighbors and business community.
“We believe Chief James Nix will deliver the highest standard of care to our community now and into the future. It’s our extreme pleasure to welcome James Nix as the new Troy Township fire chief.”
When Barcikoski opened the meeting to comments from the floor, fire department member Chad Russell noted the department has been operating with an interim Chief (Nick Bushek) for more than a year.
“Why did it take you guys a year to come to this decision?” he asked.
He questioned trustees’ search methods, asking if they had researched Nix’s employment history or if a background check was done.
“You can’t just hire (someone) because you like them,” Russell said.
Barcikoski responded later to the accusation.
“I didn’t know Jim and I don’t think Donn did, either. We chose the person we thought was the better-qualified person for the job,” he said at the end of the meeting. “I’m sorry if you disagree.”
Nix lives in Solon and Russell asked about his availability to answer EMT and fire calls.
“When will we have the fire chief in the station and what’s he going to be doing?” Russell asked.
“He’s going to be there as needed,” Barcikoski said.
The crowd responded with jeers.
Nix replied he put his home in Uniontown up for sale three months ago and moved to Solon at the urging of his fiancee.
“I rented a place in Solon so I could be up here,” he said, adding he expects to be in Troy a lot early on in his tenure.
“I have no idea if I’m going to be there 8 to 5,” Nix said. “There’s a lot of officer things that need to be addressed right out of the gate.”
Trustee Sharon Simms outlined some of the chief’s responsibilities.
“We said we want at least two days a week, eight hours a day — we know he’s going to be putting in more,” she said.
Nix also agreed to attend trustee meetings, officer meetings and address staffing, she said. Lately, the department has only been answering fewer than 30% of after-hour calls, Simms said, adding the last three calls that went out were answered by other agencies.
“The residents deserve to know the person you hired will be coming,” said Troy Fire Capt. Jeff Koehn, who asked why trustees hired a chief who is not required to answer after-hour calls. “Nobody is volunteering any more. The calls we have are not getting covered. How is that being responsible to residents?” He said. “Nothing against Jim Nix, (but) you need somebody here who is coming back (to the station) to answer calls after hours.”
When asked about the chief’s salary, Barcikoski said it is $18,000 per year, but he won’t be paid for the hours he spends staffing the station.
Simms acknowledged the shortage of people to staff the station, referring to three resignations trustees received upon hiring Nix last Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s okay. The same thing happened when (former Chief) Eric (Mathews) quit. We don’t have many local people anymore,” she said.
Firefighter Joe Mayoros, who is a charter member of the department he helped found 44 years ago, was also concerned about hiring Nix.
“There’s never been a chief appointed to the fire department outside the current membership or from outside the township. Why are we starting now?” he asked trustees, adding he believes there were qualified applicants from within the department.
“You need to start representing the people and not representing yourselves,” he said.
Koehn later said he doesn’t believe the trustees did their due diligence before hiring Nix and the Ohio Revised Code says an interim chief should automatically become chief after a year.
Trustees were silent during most of the meeting. As the crowd started to thin after almost two hours, Nix stood to answer the issues presented.
“I put in my application because I wanted to help. I didn’t do it for money, I didn’t do it for fame,” he said, noting he’d expected some department personnel to be upset about his hiring.
“No matter what choice is made, there will always be some people who are not happy,” he said.
Nix said he talked to department officers he has known for a long time and understands there is a staffing crisis.
“We need staffing. A fire station without people is a museum,” he said, adding he wants to work with Auburn Career Center to find trained candidates to work in Troy.
“Maybe we can talk to other departments to see if some of their guys want to come over,” he said.
It is common practice for a trained firefighter/medic to work for more than one township or municipality at the same time.
“I have no answers today — we’re going to try like hell,” he said, adding the negative atmosphere at the station is not a draw for new members.
“If it stays toxic over there (at the fire station), no one’s coming,” he said. “I will give everything I can for this fire station. I will respond when I can. We don’t want to go to Auburn (Fire Department) and say, ‘Cover all our night calls.’ I need ideas on recruiting.”
Nix said he had discussed the budget issues with trustees and they understand what needs to be done. He anticipated drawing up long-term plans for the department.
“I just ask for a chance to look at everything and give trustees the numbers,” he said.
Maintenance on equipment is one of the first items Nix said he needs to get a handle on soon.
“I plan on having those plans out there,” he said.
Nix also confirmed in a text Dec. 23 he no longer plans to run for mayor of Solon and his website regarding that matter has been taken down.
