New fire chief, Stephen Reid, says hello to the City Council; says he's aware the vote for him was a 5-3 one

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Stephen Reid, the city's new fire chief, said hello to the City Council at the council's Tuesday evening meeting.

Reid, 58, past deputy chief of emergency medical services in Washington, D.C., and more recently a fire consultant, spoke briefly to the council, thanking it for voting to hire him a week before. Reid was quick to note that he was quite aware that the vote to hire him was a 5-3 one, and that three on the council had wanted to hire the local candidate among three finalists, Cedar Rapids District Fire Chief Brian Giachino.

Reid told the council that he intended to focus on career development within the Fire Department so when it was his time to leave the city would have “plenty” of people in-house to compete for the chief's job.

Reid is comfortable on his feet, and he turned to the audience and said hello as he started his comments to the council.

He said he already had been out meeting firefighters. He starts on May 10.