New C Shift Captain Tony Carter |
Though Tony just recently became a Lieutenant, the choice of promoting him to Captain has been a popular one with the firefighters he works with. Senior Firefighter Ted Penge said "Tony is a great guy to work for, he truly lets his people feel empowered to do their jobs and do them well. He supports your projects and work without micro managing, and he is fair with everyone he meets, he's an excellent pick for a leader in our department.". Firefighter Rick Ilg is also excited for Tony mainly because of what he has accomplished during his short time as a Lieutenant "Look at what he's done already, so much positive stuff comes from that man, and I expect nothing else than for him to continue building on things now that he has full charge of his shift."
Tony Carter is the Vice President of the non profit Forest Grove Firefighter's Association, and also serves as a shop steward with the Tualatin Valley Professional Firefighters Union Local 1660. With the promotion of Tony to Captain a vacancy is left in the department at the Lieutenant level. Fire Chief Michael Kinkade expects to have a process in place in the next couple weeks and to have an announcement in place by the end of September as to who will fill that role. Due to the confidence that there were adequate in house candidates for these leadership positions, the department did not have to await the hiring of another firefighter so since hiring Jordan Ruiz on July 1st Forest Grove Fire & Rescue has been able to maintain full staffing of all positions in their current fiscal year budget.
C Shift photo from Captain Lanter's retirement party in July |