Fire chief appointed by mayor

Former leader takes old job after officials affirm full-time position

Mentor-on-the-Lake has a new fire chief.

Former fire Capt. Jamie Pechatsko recently was appointed to the chief’s position and will be sworn in at the Feb. 13 City Council meeting, Mayor David Eva said.

Pechatsko replaces Tom Konitsky, who served as part-time chief since August 2014, when he was promoted from battalion chief. Konitsky, a full-time firefighter/paramedic in Painesville, will resume the

battalion chief role, which was never filled.

With Pechatsko’s appointment, the chief position will return to full time.

“Jamie makes a good chief because he has the education and experience it takes to manage the department,” Eva said. “He is professional, and has the temperament and patience to handle the position. The residents deserve a full-time chief and the fire department deserves a full-time chief, too. Jamie has been with the Mentoron-the-Lake Fire Department for almost 20 years. The staff has respect for him, and his ideas will improve our fire department operations.”

The change comes after some council members expressed concern about the mayor’s proposal to amend city law to allow for a parttime chief. His idea was based on a desire to save money as well as confidence that Konitsky was the best choice in 2014.

“We did not pass an operating levy in 2013, and had charter levies on the ballot for police, fire and roads in 2014,” Eva said. “This was a way to reduce the amount we had to ask our residents for with the charter fire levy in 2014.”

The matter was referred to Council’s Ordinance and Safety committees, the latter being comprised of former firefighters. The Safety Committee recommended to council to leave the ordinance as is and support a full-time chief.

Council on Jan. 23 unanimously voted against the amendment.

Eva then notified Council that he was having Konitsky step down and that Pechatsko would be appointed chief.

“Until I suggested changing the ordinance to reflect the (existing) composition of the fire department, which was a parttime chief, Council had from 2015 to 2017 appropriated funds for Tom as the part-time chief,” the mayor noted.

The proposed revision to the ordinance would have listed a full-time or parttime chief, he added.

Some council members still aren’t satisfied with the change in chief.

“I was hoping to see us go outside the department to find the next chief,” said Councilman Paul Morris, a retired fire lieutenant with the city.

“I sent the mayor an email stating the same. I think we might have been able to find someone better qualified to become our fire chief who wasn’t in the middle of the current situation, if we bothered to look. Nobody else in the department was given the opportunity to even apply. In as much as I worked there for so long and am very familiar with all of the issues, I feel that the department would be better off with somebody totally new to the situation — although I know and respect the point that this decision is totally up to the mayor.

“I am also concerned about the legality of just removing people from the classified service, civil service, and just returning them if it doesn’t work out.”

The mayor said he believes in promoting from within and that Pechatsko was a good candidate. He joined the department as a part-time firefighter in 1998 and became full-time four years later. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2011 and captain in 2016.

“Jamie’s is a great story of working his way through the ranks to a position he has earned,” Eva said.

He will oversee four full-time and 23 part-time staff. The position will pay $78,000 annually.

Pechatsko, 48, has a bachelor’s degree in fire administration from Bowling Green State University, is a certified paramedic, firefighter 2, fire instructor and has completed all levels as a fire officer. He also is an American Heart Association instructor in basic life and advanced cardiac life support, and a continuing education paramedic instructor.

He moved to Mentor-on-the-Lake in 1993, and is involved at St. John Vianney Catholic Church and with the Boy Scouts. He and wife Jeanette have three sons, two of whom are Eagle Scouts, and the third is working toward the achievement.

“My plan is to just faithfully serve the citizens of the city of Mentor-on-the Lake, be as fiscally responsible as I can and move the department in a positive direction,” Pechatsko said.

The fire department serves about 8,000 people within 1.6 square miles.

Pechatsko