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By Lance Murphey
City council briefs
April 14, 2004
Arwood confirmed as new fire director
After bestowing praise and accolades on Richard B. Arwood, the Memphis
City Council on Tuesday confirmed him as the city's new fire director.
The confirmation was a reversal from three months ago, when council
members rejected Mayor Willie Herenton's previous pick, Jerry Crawford,
because he lives in Fayette County. Arwood was confirmed on a 9-0 vote,
with four council members not voting.
Arwood, 54, lives in Collierville where he is the assistant fire chief. He
says he will move back to Memphis now that he has been tapped for the top
job, which pays $110,257.
Crawford had made a similar offer to move to Memphis if confirmed as
director, but council members balked at the fact that he had lived outside
city limits during his career at the Memphis Fire Department. Arwood, on
the other hand, lived in Memphis the 25 years he worked for the department
before retiring in 1997. He moved to Collierville when he took the job in
that town.
"I'm so elated," Arwood said after council members gave him their support
and praise at a council committee meeting before the full council's
confirmation vote.
Arwood said he had been happy being in the No. 2 spot in Collierville, but
had been recruited for this position. He said leading the Memphis
department had been a dream of his, but didn't happen, so he had moved on
to other things. "Now here I am. Everything has happened so quickly."
Arwood had been drawing a pension from his years with the city, but said
Tuesday he knew by accepting this job that that check would stop. He said
he expects to take over the reins in about two weeks.
Herenton praised Arwood for his professionalism and added that the rank
and file respect him. "Even the union likes him."
Council member TaJuan Stout Mitchell did not vote because she said she had
been criticized for voting in the past because her husband is a city
firefighter. Council attorney Allan Wade, however, said she could vote on
the issue because there is no direct relationship involved. |