By Aleasha Sandley, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — Anderson Fire Department leaders have hired two of their own family members since 2008 and say they followed a carefully planned hiring process that ensured their hiring decisions could not be construed as nepotism.
Relatives in the fire department include Fire Chief Dave Clendenen’s son, Ben Clendenen, and Deputy Chief Dave Cravens’ brother Gregory Cravens. Both were hired after the current fire department leadership was in place.
Dave Clendenen would not comment on the fire department’s hiring process but said it was a tradition for sons to follow in their fathers’ footsteps as firefighters.
“I hired 12 brave young men who lay their lives on the line every day they come in, and I’m proud of them,” Clendenen said.
Dave Cravens said he and Clendenen, who normally help interview job candidates, stepped out of the interview process when their respective family members were being considered.
Cravens said the department’s hiring process includes an independently administered written test that accounts for 25 percent of the applicant’s total score and a physical test designed by Anderson Fire Department that accounts for another 25 percent.
The interview portion of the process includes questions used by other fire departments in the state and is administered by Cravens, Clendenen, Deputy Chief Jerry Burmeister and union President Matt Cole.
Cravens said in the last round of hiring, 75 applicants were interviewed over two or three days, resulting in the hiring of 12.
“We thought everybody we hired were good, quality employees that would make me proud,” he said. “I’m proud to have my brother on (the department). I know what kind of person he is.”
Burmeister said fire fighting had been a family tradition throughout mayoral administrations.
“If I had a son, I would hope that he would get on the fire department and follow in my footsteps,” he said.
As a former Anderson Police Department detective and member of a family involved in public safety, Mayor Kris Ockomon said he was taught from a young age to value public safety and serve the community as a family.
City spokeswoman Tammy Bowman called it the legacy factor.
“Some families are committed to public service,” she said.
Anderson Police Department officer Zane Sparks, who was hired this month, said his father’s career as a police officer led him to public safety. Sparks’ father is APD Chief Darron Sparks.
“It always goes back to my father,” Zane Sparks said. “I was born and raised around it.”
Anderson Board of Public Safety member H.L. Baker said Zane Sparks would have to prove himself on his own merits.
“You get looked at somewhat in a different way (as the chief’s son),” Baker said. “By being a police officer, you make it on your own.”
The family tradition of firefighters and police departments is noted by Public Safety Degrees, an online service that helps those looking for public safety careers get started on training.
“Across the country, you can walk into virtually any fire department, EMS station, police headquarters or law firm and find out from those who work there that they have a history in their profession,” says a Public Safety Degrees article. “A vast majority will tell you that their job is part of a long-standing family tradition, or that they even currently still work with at least one or more family members.”
Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley, who has slashed her city’s fire budget to deal with declining tax revenue, said familial relationships exist among some Muncie firefighters. She wouldn’t disclose individual relationships, citing personnel policy.
“I would agree that there is some legacy involved in it,” she said. “A child grows and sees their dad being a firefighter.”
Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com.
