Jefferson City's new fire chief will be eligible for any raises authorized for the 2015 fiscal year and may receive a city vehicle if, and when, he moves inside city limits.
Fire Chief Matt Schofield was appointed to the position Tuesday by the Jefferson City Council. According to minutes from the closed session meeting, three votes were taken concerning Schofield's appointment.
The first was to hire Schofield as fire chief with a salary of $88,000 and the stipulation that Schofield "be provided a city vehicle when he moves into the city." The move was approved 9-1, with 4th Ward Councilman Glen Costales casting the sole opposing vote. Costales said he only opposed the motion because he thought Schofield should be provided with a city vehicle now.
Though Schofield does not reside within city limits, he is not required to because of a change in the city's residency requirements last year. Current employees who are promoted to a director position do not have to move if they do not already live within city limits, but if the person moves at any point while employed with the city, they must move within the limits.
Schofield said he lives between Millersburg and Columbia in an unincorporated area, and he plans to move to Jefferson City, once the timing is better for his two young sons who are in school.
"I think to do this job, and to do it well, I need to be completely integrated into this community," Schofield said. "I mean that with everything - family, faith, all of it. That's ... always been what I've felt to be my obligation, whether it's required or not."
Another vote taken in closed session Tuesday specified that Schofield's $88,000 salary would remain in effect for the upcoming 2015 budget year, which was approved unanimously, but a third vote further specified that any raises authorized for the next fiscal year would apply to Schofield as well. That third vote resulted in a tie on the council with Mayor Eric Struemph providing the tie-breaking vote in favor of the measure.
First Ward Councilman Jim Branch, 2nd Ward Councilman J. Rick Mihalevich, 2nd Ward Councilwoman Laura Ward, 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Scrivner and 5th Ward Councilman Larry Henry voted against the measure.