A newly appointed paid chief for the Shenango Township Volunteer Fire Department told firefighters Sunday that it's time to move on and focus on improving the department and protecting the community.

But moving on may be hard for volunteers who have a problem with how the chief was hired.

Shenango Township resident and Assistant Police Chief Ron Ziglear, 62, was appointed Dec. 22 to the new post by township supervisors. He replaces Joe Varga, the volunteer chief, who resigned at the end of December.

"If you have a problem with how the supervisors handled the change in job description, all it did was give me more responsibility," Ziglear said.

"We need everyone's cooperation and everyone's help here. It's got to be a team effort or we're not going to go anywhere," he said.

Some volunteers questioned Ziglear's hiring because the paid position was not advertised, so they didn't get a chance to apply. It is the first time anyone has been paid to be fire chief in Shenango Township.

"Basically, the supervisors appointed someone instead of coming to one of our business meetings, saying, 'We're going to appoint this man,' " said volunteer Carl Hoover, 30, of Bedford Road. "A lot of guys aren't interested in the position, but a few of us, myself included, would have been. It's a slap in the face to me."

Township solicitor William Madden told supervisors that the position didn't need to be advertised because they weren't creating a new post, just adding to the duties of the assistant police chief, said Supervisor Chairman Larry Robinson.

"It did happen quickly," said Robinson. "We received the letter of resignation (from Varga), and our (original) December meeting was canceled for lack of a quorum. We knew come Jan. 1, we didn't have a fire chief."

Robinson said he and his fellow supervisors, Bob Phillips and Matt Frontino, decided to hire Ziglear in the hopes that he might bring an objective viewpoint to a sometimes troubled department, a fact the volunteers acknowledged.

"We didn't really want to have to go to this point," Robinson said, adding Sunday's meeting of the volunteers was the first he had attended since he resigned as assistant fire chief almost four years ago.

"We do need a change, but was this the right way? I know the way an organization is supposed to run. I don't think this is it," said Hoover, who recently returned to the department after an eight-month leave for personal reasons.

Hoover made it clear that he has nothing personal against Ziglear. "We just were never given an opportunity (to apply), but it's water over the dam now. I just want provisions in place for the next time a fire chief retires or resigns," he said.

Despite concerns volunteers have about the way the hiring was handled, Robinson said protecting the community is their priority.

"Bottom line is, it is still the responsibility of the supervisors, regardless of whether a position is paid or not, to handle all aspects of public safety," he said.

Ziglear's new annual salary is $31,500 for both positions and is supported by the township budget, Robinson said, adding there is no separate salary breakdown for the posts. In 2001, Ziglear's annual salary was $25,896.