Milpitas Fire Department's new interim fire chief - Ruben Grijalva

Ruben Grijalva, outgoing director of the state's lead fire agency, has accepted a job as Milpitas Fire Department's interim fire chief.

Grijalva will retire from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection tomorrow, and replace outgoing Milpitas Fire Chief Clare Frank, who resigned from her post last month. Frank, 43, will serve her last day on the job tomorrow after leading Milpitas' fire service for about three and a half years.

Frank accepted a position as assistant fire chief with Cal Fire's Fire Marshal's Office, and will begin the first week of March.

Grijalva, a 53-year-old resident of the Evergreen area in San Jose, confirmed Wednesday that he officially starts his new job here as interim fire chief Monday. He said he intends to work as an interim fire chief both here and in other cities, and explained that his name was recommended to City of Milpitas officials through an executive search firm.

"I am retiring this Friday from state service," he added. "But I am very fortunate to come to work in Milpitas; I worked most of my career in Santa Clara County."

Grijalva will be paid $122 per hour, or $976 per eight-hour day (equivalent of a $203,000 position annually). Milpitas' human resources department said Grijalva cannot work more than 960 hours in a fiscal year in the new post because of his retiree status.

His extensive 32-year work history straddles both the fire and law enforcement services.

In April 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Grijalva as director of Cal Fire, where he had filled the acting director position since January of that year.

Prior to that appointment, Schwarzenegger named Grijalva the state's fire marshal in August 2004.

Grijalva worked for many years in the Bay Area. Starting in 1994, he was the fire chief in Palo Alto for 10 years. Grijalva had been Palo Alto's assistant fire chief four years prior.

Before that, Grijalva worked for Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety for 16 years working in police and fire capacities.

Grijalva has expertise in criminal justice administration, and has had extensive experience in negotiations of various types from labor negotiations to legislative and code development to hostage negotiations.

Grijalva was recognized for his role as the primary hostage negotiator in a 1988 incident in Sunnyvale, at a company named ESL where he successfully negotiated the surrender of a mass murderer.

Grijalva has chaired the state Board of Fire Services and is an ex-officio member of the California Film Commission, served on Gov. Schwarzenegger's Hydrogen Highway Network Senior Review Committee, and on the Board of Directors of FIRESCOPE.

In addition, Grijalva is a member of the National Association of State Foresters as the California state forester.

According to Grijalva, as Milpitas' interim fire chief he hopes to ably guide the department for the length of time he is here during the search for a full-time replacement, including outreach to fire personnel, other city staff and residents.

Mainly, he said his job will be to plan ahead.

"As interim fire chief I'll try to identify the challenges for the next permanent chief," Grijalva said.

But he stressed that he would tackle any immediate challenges that arise, including budgetary issues.

"I tend to do a lot of planning, including coming up with a two-year work plan," he said.

Grijalva said in his years of public safety work in Santa Clara County, he has come to know both Milpitas Mayor Bob Livengood and Vice Mayor Pete McHugh.

"I look forward to working with the management team, labor management, the city manager and elected officials," he said.

Outgoing Chief Frank said she was "really surprised and pleased" about Grijalva taking over as interim fire chief.

Frank, who met with Grijalva at Milpitas Fire Department last Friday, said her replacement has a reputation as a strong organizational leader, which included improving overall morale during his time at Cal Fire.

"He's just a terrific leader," she said. "He's not even going to miss a beat here."

Source: http://www.themilpitaspost.com - Link
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