Roger Kerr, the former Bloomington fire chief recently named to the position on an interim basis, will hold the title permanently starting next week.
Mayor Kerry Thomson announced Wednesday she is appointing Kerr as permanent fire chief. She selected him as interim fire chief last December.
Thomson named Kerr interim chief after Jason Moore resigned as fire chief in December. Moore resigned less than a week after Thomson announced she planned to reappoint him under her administration.
Thomson was sworn into office on Jan. 1.
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Kerr has worked for the Bloomington Fire Department since 1988 and served as chief from 2008 to 2014. Before he was appointed interim chief, he held the title of battalion chief.
In a written statement, Thomson said Kerr is the best person to lead the department forward.
“He has earned the trust and respect of his colleagues,” Thomson wrote. “He brings the experience of a career firefighter who has worked his way up the ranks. And, he has the skills and heart of a leader and a public servant.”
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Kerr will officially retire as a career firefighter on March 11 and become the appointed fire chief as a civilian effective March 12.
Moore’s departure from the department last year followed a recent exodus of firefighters, which the local fire union attributes to low pay and staffing shortages.
Moore has not specified his reasons for leaving but wrote in an email to department staff that he hopes Thomson’s administration and the new city council will address staffing levels, pay and dispatch services.
Moore recently ran to fill the District 5 seat on the Bloomington City Council, left vacant after Shruti Rana’s departure. He and Jenny Stevens lost to Courtney Daily in a Democratic caucus last week.
