Cedar Rapids City Manager Announces Finalists for Fire Chief Position, Meet and Greet Event

The Civil Service Commission Certified a list of four Fire Chief finalist candidates on Monday, August 31. The Certified List was presented to City Manager Jeff Pomeranz. City Manager Pomeranz carefully reviewed the Certified List and invited all four candidates to Cedar Rapids for both in-person interviews and a meet-and-greet event with members of the community on Monday, September 14, 2026.

The following is a list of each candidate on the Certified List, in order of their ranking based on evaluation procedures employed by the Commission in accordance with the Code of Iowa Chapter 400, paragraph 400.11:

1. Brent Smith
2. Stephen Mast
3. Edward Nied, Jr
4. Jerry Hardison

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A Meet and Greet event will be held in an open-house format on Monday, September 14, from 5-7 p.m. at the City Command Post, Central Fire Second Floor, 713 1st Avenue SE. Community members are invited to meet individually with each candidate.

Accommodations: Limited, accessible parking is available in the building's 1st Avenue lot, available from 8^th Street SE. On-street parking is also available surrounding the building. Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in this program should contact Rachelle Stewart at 319-286-5702 or email [email protected] as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event. TTY users may also call 711 (Iowa Relay Service).