Merrifield tapped for EMS chief position

Merrifield was the top pick of the BOC’s selection committee, and committee chairman Steve Worley introduced him to Yearwood as the next step in the hiring process.

Merrifield’s more than 20 years of experience as a fire chief made him stand out during the selection process, Worley said.

“I just see good, honest, leadership-management skills here,” he added.

According to his resume`, Merrifield has been the fire chief of three cities since 1989. He was Statesboro’s chief until May, when as a budgetary measure, the city council voted to replace both the fire chief and the police chief with a single public safety director.

Neither Worley nor Yearwood would disclose the salary that was offered to Merrifield, because the BOC has not approved it.

But after nearly two years of departmental instability since the March 2009 resignation of former chief Robert Post, both expressed strong hope – and considerable relief – that the right person may have been found to lead Barrow County Emergency Services.

Worley said he believes Merrifield will be someone that fire personnel can rely on and who can restore public confidence in the department.

Recent controversies have raised doubts about the operation of the department, and the county needs “to get that doubt out and let the fire chief run that department like it should be run,” Worley said.

Added Yearwood: “I think he’ll have the love for people. But I don’t think he’s going to be one that they can do what they want around him. I’m pretty sure the professional side of him is going to come through when he starts dealing with things.”

Both Worley and Yearwood also said they had been impressed by Merrifield’s “spirit” and honesty during the hiring process. He is a graduate of Liberty University, a Baptist college in Virginia that was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. He also is married and the father of a teenage daughter who has waged a successful and very public battle against recurrent bouts of cancer that began at the age of 8, according to published reports.

Worley said that while the chairman and the BOC should continue to provide budgetary and other oversight for the department, he hopes Merrifield would be allowed to run day-to-day operations with little interference.

Yearwood over the past couple of years has been criticized for attempting to micromanage the department, but he has indicated in recent interviews that he fully intends for the new chief to be in charge.

The Human Resources department on Tuesday released to local newspapers the names of the top three chief candidates, as required under the Georgia Open Records Act. The other two finalists were Steven MacFall of Fayette County and John Shearman of Missouri.

Seventeen people, including three internal candidates, applied for the position.