Palm Beach Ups Interim Fire Chief Matty to Permanent Status
May 12--WEST PALM BEACH -- Ten days after she was named interim Fire Chief, veteran firefighter Diana Matty has been put forward for the permanent posting.
Mayor Jeri Muoio has scheduled Matty's appointment for ratification by the city commission at its next meeting, May 22.
"I've watched Diana Matty grow and develop over the years and she has proven herself over and over again -- particularly during Hurricane Matthew, when she was in charge of emergency operations," Muoio said Friday. "She will be a fabulous Chief!"
"I'm excited, I'm very excited," said Matty, 41, who had risen to assistant chief in 22 years with the department. Along the way she served as firefighter, paramedic, hazmat expert and emergency operations leader.
As chief she would command a department with 228 employees and an annual budget of $35.7 million, the city's second-largest.
Matty became interim chief after Chief Dan Hanes left the city unexpectedly May 5. City officials offered no reason for his departure.
As interim chief, she became one of six female department heads (police, fire, parks and recreation, public utilities, information technology and city clerk) in West Palm, where the mayor, three of five commissioners, the city attorney and deputy city administrator, among others, also all are female. Matty's move up follows by three months Sarah Mooney's appointment to police chief, also as an inside hire.
If approved, Matty would be the city's 16th fire chief, since West Palm Beach was founded in 1894. Early chiefs sometimes stayed in office for decades, but since the 1990's the average has been three years, she said. Hanes was in the job about a year and a half.
In the week and a half since becoming interim chief, Matty has been busy.
Tens of thousands of people descended upon downtown West Palm Beach for SunFest, the city's busiest annual event, where the Fire Rescue Department paramedics staffed a medical tent. "We made it through SunFest and we have a lot of forward momentum," she said.
Have a West Palm Beach news tip? Contact Staff Writer Tony Doris at tdoris@pbpost.com or 561-820-4703.
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