Just short of four years after a national recruitment brought Jim Frawley to Santa Cruz in 2015, the city fire chief has announced his pending retirement.
Frawley’s last day with the city is scheduled as Jan. 3. The 52-year-old told the Sentinel during an interview in 2017 that “the chief stays as long as the community and department wants you,” but said Wednesday that a third circumstance had intervened: A “dream job” offer from Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go and work at a company of that size and notoriety,” said Frawley, who said he will will take on a lead role for the firm’s emergency management and preparedness. “When I dreamed what I’d like to do as a fire chief, I dreamed about being here at Santa Cruz Fire Department. Then, as I was dreaming about what I’d like to do in retirement, I thought, hey, I’d like to work for a tech company in their emergency management and emergency preparedness. And boom, it dropped in my lap.”