There shall be elected annually one Chief, one Assistant Chief, one Deputy Chief and one Battalion Chief of the Borough Volunteer Fire Department who shall hold office for one calendar year.
[Amended 9-13-2011 by Ord. No. 2224-2011; 9-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2252-2012]
A. 
Prerequisite. No member of the Borough Fire Department shall be eligible for nomination for election as Chief who is not currently active as Assistant Chief or has completed one full calendar year as Assistant Chief. No member shall be eligible for nomination or election to Assistant Chief who is not an active Deputy Chief or has completed one full calendar year as Deputy Chief. No member shall be eligible for nomination or election as Deputy Chief who is not currently Battalion Chief or has competed one calendar year as Battalion Chief. No member shall be eligible for nomination or election as Battalion Chief who is not currently active as a Fire Captain or has completed one full calendar year (January 1 through December 31) as Fire Captain and has met all state-mandated training. Any past Fire Chief is eligible to fill or hold any Chief rank without having been either an Assistant Chief or Battalion Chief, providing he/she has met all state-mandated training.
B. 
No member of the Borough Fire Department shall be eligible for nomination for election as Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief that has not maintained a minimum of 30% attendance for the current and previous year.
[Added 5-12-2015 by Ord. No. 2350-2015]
[Amended 9-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2252-2012]
The Board of Fire Commissioners shall annually, at the first meeting in November, nominate qualified candidates for the offices of Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief of the Borough Volunteer Fire Department. The Board of Fire Commissioners shall select those qualified candidates from the nominations made at each individual company's business meeting prior to the November Fire Board meeting. In addition to the persons so nominated by the Fire Boards, any qualified member of any of the fire companies of the Borough who meets the qualifications in § 13-17 above shall be eligible to run as a write-in candidate for the office of Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief. The write in candidate shall submit a letter of intention to the Fire Clerk. This letter shall include the office he/she is intending to run for and stating that he/she is qualified for said office. The letter must be submitted to the Fire Clerk's office by three business days before the November Fire-board meeting. These letters will be read at the November Fire Board meeting. Ballots will then be made using all qualified names determined by fireboard. All incumbents nominated shall be put on the ballot first with all other candidates put on the ballot as other, in alphabetical order by last name. There shall be no write in candidates on the ballot; all votes will be a check of the candidate's box on the ballot. The ballot will not count if not properly checked. No person shall at any one election be nominated for more than one office of Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief. Preferably the Chief rotation within the companies will be adhered to. All candidates will be verified by the Chief and Training Officer. A letter will be sent to the Fire Board by the Training Officer verifying the credentials of each candidate. A sample ballot shall be distributed to members prior to the Chief election.
[Amended 9-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2252-2012; 5-12-2015 by Ord. No. 2350-2015; 10-26-2021 by Ord. No. 2595-2021]
Active regular members of each fire company that have met the minimum performance requirements shall then vote separately for the election of the Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief, the election to be held at the current Chief of Department's firehouse on the first Wednesday of December of each year. The Fire Board shall designate eight members, two from each fire company (preferably senior members), to act as a Board of Elections to conduct said election. The polls shall be open from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., prevailing time. The election shall be by secret ballot, ballots to be printed by the order of the Fire Board and delivered to the Board of Elections designated before the time of the election. If a member cannot be present at the election, an absentee ballot shall be permitted. A member may obtain an absentee ballot by contacting the Fire Clerk via email or regular mail at least 14 days prior to the election. The Fire Clerk will then email or send a ballot via regular mail to the member requesting same. The member must then return the ballot to the Fire Clerk via regular or certified mail or in person by the end of business day two business days prior to the election. If the ballot is handed in to the Fire Clerk, the Clerk shall give a receipt to the member. The ballot must be placed in a sealed envelope; the envelope shall be signed by the member who shall print his/her name underneath the signature on the outside of the envelope and write "election ballot" on the outside of the envelope. The Fire Clerk will then hand-deliver the sealed envelopes to the tellers the night of the election.
[Amended 9-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2252-2012]
The Board of Elections, as designated by the Fire Board, shall distribute the ballots to be used at the election and shall also receive the same as they are voted by the persons qualified to vote and immediately deposit in a ballot box to be kept for that purpose. After the polls are closed, the Board of Elections shall immediately commence to count the ballots and credit the respective candidates for the respective offices of Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief the number of votes each one received. The Fire Clerk shall give any absentee ballots received to the tellers to be counted at this time. All envelopes must be sealed; any unsealed envelopes shall not be counted. All ballots shall be sealed and retained for one year then destroyed.
A. 
The Board of Elections shall certify to the Fire Board: the number of votes cast for each person nominated for the office of Chief, the person receiving the highest number of votes for that office being declared Chief; the number of votes cast for the persons nominated for the office of Assistant Chief, the person receiving the highest number of votes for that office being declared Assistant Chief; the number of votes cast for the persons nominated for the office of Deputy Chief, the person receiving the highest number of votes for that office being declared Deputy Chief; and the number of votes cast for the persons nominated for the office of Battalion Chief, the person receiving the highest number of votes for that office being declared Battalion Chief. The election results shall forthwith be certified to the Mayor and Council, with a report and recommendation for confirmation or rejection at a December meeting of the Mayor and Council. If confirmed by the Mayor and Council, the persons so elected Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall take office on January 1.
B. 
If rejected by the Mayor and Council, new nominations and elections shall be held at succeeding special election or elections, the date or dates of which being fixed by the Fire Board within not less than 10, nor more than 15, days after the rejection. The special election, or succeeding special elections to fill said offices, shall be conducted in the same manner as hereinabove prescribed for the annual election and shall be certified as above and subject to confirmation or rejection by the Mayor and Council.
C. 
In the event a Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief are not duly elected and confirmed before January 1 of any year, then the predecessor shall continue to serve until such time that a Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief are selected.