Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505010019
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CITY LOOKS NATIONWIDE FOR CHIEF

The city has hired a Georgia headhunter who specializes in local government officials to find the right person to lead the Fire Department and its planned merger with Emergency Medical Services.

Slavin Management Consultants, of Norcross, Ga., will be paid $11,120 for the task, said Kenneth Cronin, chief of the city's personnel management office.

Robert Slavin, company president, will visit Roanoke to assess the department's needs. He also will evaluate applications submitted in response to ads the city has placed in national publications.

Slavin then will recommend suitable candidates to City Manager Bob Herbert, Cronin said.

The new chief will replace Rawleigh Quarles, who retired in March after five years as chief. Quarles announced he was leaving city government to become a full-time minister.

While hiring consultants to find department heads isn't unheard of in Roanoke city government, the contract with Slavin is being questioned by the Roanoke Firefighters Association.

``That's very upsetting. But we're getting a little bit used to it in one sense - every time they go to hire someone, they get a consultant,`` said Capt. Ed Crawford, the union president. ``We didn't think it showed much confidence in our own personnel office.''

The nationwide search is being driven by a need for a leader with experience in managing a combined fire and emergency medical services system, Cronin said. The departments have always been separate in the city.

Slavin's advantage is that he knows state, county and city managers all across the country, Cronin said.

``The best people for the jobs are often people who aren't looking for jobs. ... [Slavin] knows the best people and the top talent in the country. Those kinds of connections are things that I don't have,'' Cronin said.

The city is accepting applications from current firefighters. Crawford said the union hopes local candidates are given consideration, but it acknowledges there aren't a great many of its own who have experience in running both types of departments.

The city has used headhunters on other occasions to find talent. Sometimes, they recommend candidates from outside city government. Other times, consultants have said the best people were right under managers' noses.

City Council in 1993 paid a North Carolina company $14,900 to recommend candidates to replace former Finance Director Joel Schlanger. Council ultimately decided Schlanger's chief deputy, Jim Grisso, was the best person for the job.

Similarly, the city paid Slavin $7,000 in 1992 to find someone to replace outgoing Assistant City Manager Earl Reynolds. Ultimately, Herbert chose Jim Ritchie, who was heading the city Department of Human Resources.

But Cronin, Director of Human Development Glen Radcliffe and Manager of Communications Bob Agnor all were hired from outside the Roanoke area after searches by consultants, said Michelle Bono, a city spokeswoman.