You've probably heard the old newsroom aphorism that the commonplace occurrence of "Dog Bites Man" is not news. That kind of story ends up in the trash can. But when a "Man Bites Dog" story comes along, now that's when the printing presses start rolling. News is about the unusual. It's also about conflict in our society and around the world. We know by taking a quick scan at the headlines or watching the first five minutes of the television news that "good news is not news." The fact that the local bank wasn't robbed today won't make the headlines in tomorrow's newspaper.

In this column, I have decided to take a wild risk. Are you ready? I have some good news to report. And I'll take it a step further. It's a good story about local government. It's not a big story but I'll try to make a point or two before we are through. Of course, I know that my reporting of good news will violate the first canon in the Columnist's Code of Professional Ethics and this rebellious act could result in my excommunication from this little fraternity. However, since I never learned the secret handshake, I figure I have nothing to lose. Let's roll the dice!

Let me tell you a good story that may well have a happy ending. Members of the Auburn City Council, City Manager Paul Ogden and his staff created an excellent and thorough process earlier this year to select a new Fire Chief for our town. The city formed two panels to interview the six most qualified candidates for the position of Fire Chief out of a total of 30 applicants. I was fortunate to be appointed to the Community Panel by Council Member Maki. The Community Panel included dedicated community leaders Janice Forbes, Bob Snyder, Wayne Manning, Rod Haak, and Ron Chiaratti. The city also formed a Professional Panel made up of a number of high-ranking and experienced firefighting leaders from the Sierra foothills including Captain Craig McCardle and Battalion Chief Kurt Taylor from our own fire department.

On January 10th, the City Manager and both panels met in the Rose Room at Auburn City Hall to begin the all-day interview process. In addition to taking an exam, each of the six Fire Chief candidates were interviewed separately by the Community Panel and the Professional Panel for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Members of the Community Panel asked each candidate about a dozens questions to learn more about their experiences in preventing and fighting structural and wildland fires and their past efforts in recruiting, training and motivating volunteer firefighters. We also evaluated the candidates on their communication skills, leadership abilities, and dedication to community. Each candidate received a numerical score.

At the end of the day, both panels and the City Manager met in the Rose Room to compare our evaluations of the six candidates and to develop a consensus on which candidates could, as Auburn Fire Chief, provide the necessary leadership to work with other government officials and residents to create a fire safe community. City Manager Paul Ogden forwarded our best recommendations to the City Council. The City Council then made, after a check of work-related references and interviewing the three top candidates, the decision to hire Mark D'Ambrogi as our new Fire Chief. We were all impressed with Mark's extensive firefighting, leadership, and management experience in Sonoma County.

I believe that because the City Council, City Manager and staff took the time to put together a thorough and community-based selection process that we now have, with the selection of Mark D'Ambrogi as Fire Chief, an opportunity during the next year to make significant progress in lowering the threat of catastrophic wildfire. There is much to be done, but this was an important and needed step forward. Mr. D'Ambrogi will begin work as our Fire Chief on April 29th.

Naturally, in our representative democracy, elected and appointed officials get their share of criticism. They are our public servants and we pay them to do an important job. Some of them forget their obligation to serve the public interest rather than the needs of special interests or personal advancement. When they mess up, they hear from us. There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism.

However, sometimes, for those genuinely dedicated to public service, unrelenting criticism can get a little tough to take. Everyone needs a pat on the back once in a while. Thomas Jefferson once said, "public service and private misery are inseparably linked together." In a similar moment of despondency, John Adams wrote, "if I were to go over my life again, I would be a shoemaker rather than an American statesman." So, maybe we need, when it's earned, a little more constructive praise. In that vein, I tip my hat to all those dedicated elected and appointed officials at all levels of government who do the right thing for the public everyday. They create a lot of good stories that never quite make it in the newspapers or the 5 O'clock News.

Copyright 2002 The Auburn Sentinel