City Manager Mike Wildgen expects to have a new fire chief hired by next week, but he said Friday that the city would restart its search to fill the vacant director of utilities position.

Wildgen and other city leaders conducted final interviews Friday of three candidates to replace Fire Chief Jim McSwain, who retired in September after 27 years leading the department.

“We’ll put them through a rigorous interview process,” Wildgen said Friday morning. He said the city had brought in a fire chief from Colorado to serve as an adviser and that candidates were even being asked to participate in a fake press conference to demonstrate their public relations skills.

Wildgen confirmed that Interim Fire Chief Mark Bradford is one of the finalists. He did not release the names of the other two candidates, but said one was from another community in Kansas and one was from out of state.

The chief is responsible for overseeing both the fire and countywide ambulance operations of the 131-employee Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical.

Former fire chief Jim McSwain

“Finding a chief with a good, strong ability to deal with a growing community will be important,” said David Corliss, the assistant city manager, who also is on the interview team.

Wildgen said he also was looking for a leader who could implement a strong fire prevention and code enforcement program.

“That’s not as exciting as putting fires out, but we would rather not have to put out fires,” Wildgen said.

Wildgen also said Friday that he expected the search to find a new director of utilities to oversee the city’s water and sewer operations to stretch into February.

The city is seeking to replace former director Roger Coffey, who retired in September after 30 years with the city.

• 6News video: Fire chief candidates put in hot seat (11-04-05)
• City manager: Field narrowed for new hires (10-03-05)
• McSwain embraces retirement after 27 years at helm of fire department (09-22-05)
• Reception planned for retiring fire chief (09-16-05)
• Fire chief recalls 27 years of duty (07-20-05)

Wildgen said he had interviewed two candidates for the position but decided to reopen the search process. Wildgen said he was looking for someone with both an engineering and management background.

“Clearly, the issues that have come up recently require someone who can take both a long-range and a day-to-day look,” Wildgen said.

City officials currently are ordering new studies of the sewer system in the northwest area of the city after it was discovered that there are more people living in the area than was projected. That has created concerns that the area’s sewer system may be or has reached its capacity prematurely.

Wildgen said neither one of the city’s two assistant directors have applied for the position because both currently live outside the city limits. The city has a policy that department heads must live within the city.