The city of Cookeville is utilizing MTAS to find its next fire department chief.
City Manager James Mills said that they decided to use MTAS as a tool to find the best candidate for the job.
“You know we have experts looking into this, people who have a lot of experience searching for fire chiefs,” Mills said. “This’ll be the first, at least to my knowledge, an outside hire of a fire chief we’ve ever considered. Not saying that won’t happen this time, but this is the first time we’ve ever considered a nationwide search.”
Mills said that out of 45 candidates who have applied nationwide, the committee has narrowed the list down to six of the highest-rated candidates, including one internal candidate. He said that interviews will be conducted Thursday and Friday of this week.
Mills said that they hope to make a decision by the end of the year. The position was left vacant by Chief Daryl Blair’s retirement in August when Captain Benton Young was appointed Interim Chief.