PFC elects longtime city servant as interim president

By Brandi Makuski

Longtime city representative Jerry Moore has been appointed as interim president of the Stevens Point Police and Fire Commission.

The PFC held a special meeting via Zoom on Dec. 27, conducted by Robert Ostrowski, who is the PFC’s secretary. Under the Commission’s bylaws, leadership extends to the secretary in the absence of a president.

“I felt it was important for the citizens of Stevens Point to get back to a duly elected president as quickly as possible, that’s why I called this meeting,” Ostrowski said on Monday. Appointing an interim president was the only item on Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

The vacancy was created when President Gary Wescott resigned unexpectedly from his role on the PFC on Dec. 22. Wescott holds the distinction of being Stevens Point’s longest-serving mayor, from 1995-2007, and again as an appointed, interim mayor to fill the position when former Mayor Andrew Halverson left office before his term ended, from 2014-15. Wescott had served on the PFC since 2009 and has not disclosed his reason for stepping down.

Commissioner Joe Krischling nominated Commissioner Jerry Moore, which was seconded by Commissioner Denise Mrozek. No one else was nominated and Moore was appointed unanimously. He takes the reigns effective immediately through May 2022, when the city will conduct its annual committee reorganization.

“Thank you for your vote of confidence in me. We all work as a team and it’s about doing the right thing, keeping in mind all of the employees we have a police and fire,” Moore told the Commission on Tuesday. “We’re all in this together; we’re trying to make our community a better and safe place to live, live within a budget, and do as much as we can with as little as we have. We thank all of you, we support you, we support the people who do this job. We all volunteered to be here, we want to move our city forward, we want to keep things safe. We want to do that in the best way we possibly can. Thank you.”

Moore was appointed to the PFC in 2015. He previously served as the city’s 11th District alderman from 2000-2015 before mounting an unsuccessful campaign for mayor.

Commission members serve five-year, staggered terms and are appointed by the mayor, with approval from the Stevens Point City Council.