The cost of finding a new Brookfield fire chief increased by $802 on Friday, May 4, when the trustees agreed to run an employment ad for three Sundays, starting May 6, in the Warren Tribune-Chronicle.
Trustees decided against an ad in The Vindicator of Youngstown, which would have cost $1,061.
“You guys are probably used to this, but I am blown away at the cost of the ads,” said Trustee Dan Suttles. “I was envisioning $300 or $400.”
“Very expensive,” said Trustee Ron Haun, who said he expected it would cost $1,500 for ads in both papers.
The trustees hired the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association for $10,400 to help them with the search, and the association posts job openings on its web site and sends an email blast to its contacts. The trustees said they wanted to increase the chance of reaching potential applicants who live in the area by taking out the ad.
Suttles, a former Warren assistant fire chief, said he knows he missed applying for at least one local job he would have been interested in, because he did not learn about the vacancy until too late.
“It’s critical that we do something locally,” he said. “I don’t think we need to saturate it.”
