CITY OF KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Dana Massey became Katy's permanent fire chief Monday at City Hall.
She is the first woman to serve as Katy's fire chief.
Mayor Dusty Thiele appointed Massey to serve as interim chief following Kenneth Parker's Feb. 2 retirement. Although Massey said at the time that she did not intend to seek the permanent position, she did not rule it out.
Among her priorities will be a new fire department substation on Pederson Road at Kingsland Boulevard, which the city expects to open in 2027 or 2028, along with new trucks and an ambulance.
Hicks: Search process was not followed
The vote to approve Massey's permanent appointment was unanimous. Yet Ward B Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Gina Hicks expressed disappointment about how the search for a permanent chief was handled.
"The previous council did direct the mayor and staff to use the search committee and that has now changed," Hicks said. "That did not happen. So, my yes vote today is for the fire chief and not for the precedent that this would be setting."
Hicks said she discussed the situation with Thiele and expressed hope that the city will return to using search committees to fill key management positions.
Hicks, Thiele praise Massey's service
While Thiele did not address Hicks' concerns about the process during the meeting, he said in an interview Tuesday that the city had brought in a search firm and it had begun its work.
"But I was going to hire Dana no matter what," Thiele said. "I thought it would be a waste of time and people's energy to go through all of that."
"The mayor appoints, and that's who I was going to appoint," Thiele said. "The mayor appoints and the council confirms. The council does not tell the mayor how he's going to hire or who he's going to appoint."
Both Thiele and Hicks praised Massey's decades of service to Katy.
"I appreciate that you've served the city now for 26 years and eight months," Thiele told Massey, adding that Parker recommended that she get the job.
Thiele said Katy firefighters also urged him to appoint Massey.
"For the firefighters here, when I see y'all out in public, I don't want y'all to come up to me anymore and say, 'When are you going to appoint her?'" Thiele told the firefighters attending the meeting. "We're doing that tonight."
Hicks said before the vote that she believed Massey would do a good job and serve the city well.
"We've congratulated you on many occasions for the service you provided to the city," Hicks told Massey. "It takes a lot of work to manage all that's going on, and you guys do a great job."
In the interview, Thiele said firefighter morale was "great" and elaborated on the lobbying he received from firefighters about appointing Massey.
"Every place I went where there were firefighters there, they were always asking, 'What's wrong with you? How come you hadn't appointed her yet? When are you going to appoint her?'" Thiele said. "They're very happy over there, and our fire department's been very well run by both Chief Parker and now by Chief Massey."
City of Katy
Dana Massey gets her Katy Fire Chief pin at Monday's Katy City Council meeting.
Massey a 26-year Katy Fire Department veteran
Massey joined the Katy Fire Department in 1999 after serving with the Baytown and Galena Park fire departments. As Katy's assistant fire chief, her responsibilities included personnel management, a critical function as cities across the region compete to recruit and retain first responders.
She was named the City of Katy's 2021 Employee of the Year and has cited her father, Houston firefighter C.L. Massey, as a role model.