Dan Morrow was the unanimous choice to fill a vacant seat on the board of commissioners for the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.
The board voted 4-0 Thursday to appoint Morrow to the Position 3 seat. Morrow, a former professional firefighter/EMT who gave up his career in the firefighting ranks earlier this year due to a severe back injury, was one of four finalists for the leadership position.
The seat had been vacant since Feb. 17, when Susan Cohen resigned from the five-member board so she could seek a position within the fire department.
The vacancy originally attracted seven applicants, but three candidates withdrew their names from consideration before the board conducted interviews earlier in April.
At the April 23 board meeting, commissioners retreated to a closed-door executive session to talk about the candidates before emerging for the vote on the pick.
Fire Commissioner Glen Tyrrell told the candidates the board had a tough choice.
“We are faced with some good and some bad,” Tyrrell said.
“We have a great pool of people to make selections from,” he explained. “We are truly blessed by that.”
“The bad news is, we only have one position to fill,” he said.
With three of the four candidates in attendance — Morrow, Teri Dettmer and Meghan McKnight (Paul Topper was absent) — Morrow was nominated for the position and the board voted him to the seat.
Morrow then took a seat with his other board members, but did not vote on any commission business. He will be sworn in at the next board of commissioners meeting.
The new commissioner said he was honored by his selection and is eager to hear input from islanders about fire department issues.
“We are presented with many opportunities throughout our lives. Some opportunities develop from hard work, some by luck and most develop from a combination of both hard work and luck,” Morrow said. “Without a doubt, there is no greater opportunity one is presented with then the opportunity to serve. I am truly honored by the appointment to the board of commissioners of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department and thus the opportunity to serve the citizens of Bainbridge Island.”
“There will undoubtedly be an acclimation period as I adjust the alignment of my fletching to properly reflect the roles and responsibilities of this new role,” he added. “Having been a volunteer and career firefighter/EMT with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, the biggest adjustment thus far has been abating my Pavlovian response to jump out of my seat and move with a purpose to the apparatus bay when an emergency call comes in.”
Morrow, 36, worked as an equity trader and a research analyst before taking over as chief financial officer in 2003 at the Law Office of Jane Morrow, a law firm that specializes in medical malpractice that is owned by his wife. He has been a Bainbridge Island resident for more than 26 years.
Morrow is encouraging comments and suggestions from citizens; the new commissioner can be reached at dmorrow@bifd.org.
He will serve until Position 3 is on the ballot again in November 2013.
