Copyright 2006 The Press Enterprise, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
By KIMBERLY TRONE
The Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA.)
Riverside County Fire Chief Craig Anthony said Wednesday that he is leaving his post at the end of May to take a job in Pebble Beach.
Anthony, 56, has been with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for more than 30 years.
Riverside County contracts with the state agency for fire services and is CDF’s largest customer, with an annual budget of $100 million.
Ruben Grijalva, director of CDF, said he would replace Anthony as quickly as possible and would work closely with county leaders to decide upon a successor.
Anthony was appointed by CDF to lead the county’s Fire Department in July 2004 amid unhappiness by the county Board of Supervisors over CDF’s decision to reassign his predecessor, Tom Tisdale, without consulting them.
But Wednesday, some supervisors said the change in leadership worked out well.
Supervisor John Tavaglione credited Anthony with restoring sound administrative and purchasing practices in the department.
Former county employees, who worked in the fire-communications division until January 2005, are under criminal investigation for embezzlement involving purchasing practices and missing property and cash.
Bob Buster, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he believes Anthony pushed forward with modernizing the department and helped quiet strife between rank-and-file union members and volunteer firefighters.
“He got his fingers on some issues the county was immediately concerned with,” Buster said.
Since joining the department, Anthony said his greatest achievement has been getting a paramedic placed on each fire engine. He credited county officials with moving the department forward.
And while Anthony said he and his wife, Sharon, have enjoyed living in San Jacinto, they have dreamed of returning to Pebble Beach, where they lived 12 years ago, he said.
In his new $137,000-a-year job as manager of the Pebble Beach Community Services District, Anthony will oversee fire, sanitation and waste management services in a community of about 5,000 residents.
He earns about $100,000 annually as a CDF unit chief.
“My two career goals in the last 15 years were to work in Riverside County and in Pebble Beach. I have been extremely fortunate to have achieved both of them,” Anthony said.
“I view this as my last job,” Anthony said of his return to Pebble Beach.
Gary Hornbuckle, board president of the Pebble Beach services district, said Anthony stood out among all the candidates.
“We feel very fortunate he is coming,” Hornbuckle said by telephone.