11 - EMS Director - Appointment of Russell Thrasher

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Item No. 11 TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem & City Council FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager SUBJECT: EMS Director Appointment of Russell Thrasher City Charter Section 23 DATE: June 14, 2021 BACKGROUND: The EMS Director position has been vacant since November 2020. It became the task of the City Manager to seek out and select an appropriate candidate to fill this position. A copy of the Job Description is found below. The City Manager worked with Thomas McMonigle, Fire Chief, and Sandy Collard, Human Resource and Civil Service Director, to serve as an Interview Team. A total of five individuals were interviewed. STATUS OF ISSUE: I am pleased to present to you Russell Thrasher as my selection for EMS Director. Mr. Thrasher has 20+ years of service with the City EMS Department, working his way up through the ranks, most recently serving as Shift Supervisor and in the last six months as Interim EMS Director. I am very impressed with this individual, both in his experience as well as his character. He possesses the right combination of potential, experience, attitude, energy, professionalism and civility that I want to see as the leader of the EMS Department. Mr. Thrasher has done an outstanding job as the Interim EMS Director these last six months, taking on a massive workload while also combating CoVid-19 in our community. He holds an impressive array of education and training credentials that have helped prepare him to take on the challenges of leading the Paris EMS Department as its new EMS Director. Pursuant to the Paris City Charter, Section 23, "Neither the council nor any of its members shall direct the City Manager or any of his subordinates in the appointment or removal of any city