Finding a New Fire Chief

The city takes a step toward appointing a new chief of the Austin Fire Department next Wednesday, Oct. 17, with the announcement of a slate of candidates that will take part in interview panels the week after. That list of names notably won't include Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks, who said this week he'd been eliminated from the discussion. City Manager Spencer Cronk's office declined to say whether any other internal candidates will move forward, deferring to next Wednesday's big announcement. With this appointment, Cronk will fill another one of the many department head vacancies that stacked up while Council was conducting its controversially opaque city manager search.