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Position Profile CITY OF ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA St. Louis Park is a community of choice for a lifetime.Fire Chief THE COMMUNITY An economically vibrant city with a population over 45,000 and growing, St. Louis Park is currently experiencing a renaissance. Well over a billion dollars has been invested in the city over the last decade with a similar amount expected in coming years. St. Louis Park is also home to trend-setting redevelopments such as the national award-winning Excelsior & Grand mixed use project and the new Shops at West End commercial project. A City of Choice St. Louis Park offers a wide variety of parks and recreation programming to people of all ages. This includes adult athletic leagues, youth programs, and seasonal activities. The St. Louis Park Rec Center features an outdoor aquatic park, two indoor ice arenas—used by both St. Louis Park and Benilde St. Margaret’s boys and girls High School hockey teams—and meeting and banquet facilities. St. Louis Park is committed to promoting and integrating arts, culture and community aesthetics in all city initiatives. Through various partnerships, the city has promoted and celebrated the creation of public art throughout the community City Services The city is served through Administrative Services, Community Development, Engin- eering, Fire, Inspections, Information Re- sources, Operations and Recreation and Police. Area Schools St. Louis Park residents are proud of the academic achievements of its public schools as all have earned the National School of Excellence award. St. Louis Park is one of the few suburbs where the city and school district share boundaries, further strengthening residents ties to the community. There are also nearly a dozen private and parochial school options within the city. Additionally, there are numerous colleges, universities and technical institutions in close proximity which provide employees of local businesses with opportunities for ongoing higher education and cooperative, customized and technical training. CITY STRUCTURE St. Louis Park voters elect the mayor and six (two at-large and four ward) City Council members to four-year terms. The Mayor and at-large Council members represent all residents; the ward council members are primarily responsible for representing their ward constituents. The City has a Council- Manager form of government. The Fire Chief is appointed by and reports directly to the City Manager. Community Engagement St. Louis Park is well-known as a community- first organization, championing community outreach and innovation. Many ideas and projects begin with citizen input and continue as collaborative efforts with the neighborhoods and the community at large. Several new redevelopment projects like those mentioned earlier, have resulted from community visioning efforts which are a mainstay of the city. FIRE DEPARTMENT St. Louis Park has a hybrid department blending full-time and paid on-call (POC) Firefighters. The department runs three 24- hour shifts 365 days a year through two, state- of-the-art fire stations opened in the spring of 2012. There are 25 full-time staff members including support staff, sworn personnel and 25 POC firefighters.The City has mutual aid agreements with Hopkins, Minnetonka, Golden Valley, Plymouth and Edina. The Fire Department has a history of being closely tied to the community. The Depart- ment is a mainstay at community events, local schools, service organizations, the area Chamber and many other citizens groups with special or city-wide interests. The next Chief is expected to be fully engaged with the community as a trusted role model for this critical part of public safety. Department Culture The Fire Department is a well-trained, cohesive team. The firefighters are very proud of their department and care deeply about the community they serve. The full and POC Firefighters are striving to work well together and maintain their reputation as a model department. The 3 shifts and the POC have distinct personalities; each are very proud of their teams and the contributions they make to the whole. Each views their unit as ‘the best’ and would do anything for each other or anyone on the department. Department personnel want to continually improve the department and their readiness to meet the growing demands that are coming with new developments in the city. The Firefighters have expressed their support for a visionary, dedicated leader who will advocate for a great department. PAGE 2 OF 4