By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Howard Township Supervisor Michael Sutherland announced he has reconsidered his decision to ask the Board of Trustees to demote Fire Chief Ron Fazi to a regular firefighter position.
"It would have placed the township in turmoil, placed the board in conflict with itself and prohibited it from moving forward with the township's business and it was not fair to Ron," Suthlerland said.
Sutherland met with Fazi on Monday morning and asked him to finish his appointment. Sutherland will be directing the safety committee to update the fire chief's job description, begin the search and have a recommendation for a new fire chief.
"I explained all of this to him and asked him to remain fire chief until spring. He agreed and requested that we have more dialogue and open relationship so this does not happen again and I agreed," Sutherland said.
Sutherland's original decision to find a new fire chief was made because he felt it was time for a change in leadership.
"When you sit where I do as the township supervisor, you have to make the hard decisions as well as easy ones. You always try the right decision for the betterment of the township, but at times you don't. Asking for Ron's resignation as fire chief was one of them," Sutherland said.
Fazi has been a firefighter for 18 years. For the last four years, he has served as Lt., Capt., assistant fire chief and fire chief.