Montgomery County looks to fill 3 top-level positions in local government

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - The search for Montgomery County’s new police and fire chiefs is underway and the County Executive is sharing insight on who may be fit for the roles.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he is primarily interested in looking at internal candidates for the positions. Elrich said Wednesday that the county is unique in the sense that the fire department is a combination of both volunteer and career firefighters.

"A lot of places aren’t like that, and it’s majority career with a volunteer component," Elrich told FOX 5. "You can get a lot of chief candidates who aren’t used to that. They’re all volunteer or they’re all career."

Elrich added that the county’s fire department has been evolving in terms of the kinds of calls they respond to.

"It used to be a fire department where you pretty much only did fire calls and particularly before there were telephones, all you did was fire calls. Today, it’s evolving more and more to medical response calls," he said. "We’ve been trying to reposition the department and expansions in the department could give us more flexibility to cover medical calls, which doesn’t always mean you need to build another fire station. People who aren’t in the situation in the small departments and we have some this in some interviews, the answer to any shortage is build a fire station. I don’t need a fire station. I need ambulances and people to be on the ambulances, so we want people to understand the context of the changes we’re making."

Similarly, with the search for the next police chief, Elrich said the transition may be easier if someone within the department were to step up, rather than an outsider stepping in. The new police chief will replace current Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones, who will retire effective July 1.

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In a letter to the Montgomery County Council, Elrich indicated he felt the department was "heading in the right direction" with more than 400 recommendations and legal requirements made to public safety over the past several years. Under Chief Jones’ leadership, Elrich said at least 250 changes have been implemented and about 100 are pending.

"My preference is, if there is a candidate here who is comfortable with the changes we have made and wants to continue down that path and has been supportive during the process, that’s worth a lot," he said Wednesday.

Elrich added that the next chiefs should also be experienced with labor unions.

In a statement to FOX 5 Wednesday, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 said it agreed with Elrich’s approach.

"We believe there is a strong internal candidate who has years of experience that can provide a smooth transition when police chief Marcus Jones retires. We look forward to a smooth selection process and have faith that the county executive will make the correct decision on his nomination for the next police chief.," FOP Lodge 35 president Lee Holland wrote.

Elrich’s letter to the council stated it was his intention that the candidates for police chief would be interviewed by a team of Executive Branch leadership then himself by the first week of April. If an internal candidate is selected, Elrich said he plans to nominate them in early May.

Should internal candidates are not deemed to be appropriate "at any stage," a national search supported by a professional firm will be conducted.