Fire chief finalists interviewed today, but one has some question marks

Details about a D.C. candidate have
come out recently that might be troublesome.

Interviews for fire chief could be a little more interesting today than La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat was planning.  

Kabat will be part of the two finalists’ interviews today.

Just in the last few days, however, new details have been made public about one candidate.

Retired Washington D.C deputy chief Brian Lee has been at the center of renewed scrutiny after concerns expressed by the local fire union. Lee apparently signed off on a shady retirement deal for a politically connected colleague several years ago.

When asked if he was aware of the allegations, Kabat said, “No, I did not know until – there was some conversations during interviews and things – but, no, not to the level of detail that’s come out here in the last week or so.”

Lee and current St. Paul deputy chief Ken Gilliam are the only two remaining candidates getting final interviews. 

Those two were whittled down from 14 applicants, including two from within La Crosse’s fire dept. Kabat said he’s not worried those internal candidates were not among the finalists for the job.

“They went through all the applications and, based on qualifications and experience, they selected the folks they felt were worthy of an interview,” Kabat said.