Elrich to appoint Montgomery County's first black fire chief

County Executive Marc Elrich will name Corey Smedley, Prince George's County deputy fire chief and chief of emergency medical services, as Montgomery County fire chief on Thursday, according to county officials.

Smedley's appointment is the second Elrich has made for the position. In November, MCFRS Division Chief Charles Bailey was nominated by Elrich for the role. However, Elrich let Bailey's appointment expire in March after the County Council failed to vote on Bailey's confirmation within the deadline mandated by county code.

If approved by the County Council, Smedley will be the county's first Black fire chief, serving as head of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Department. The board is mandated by county code to vote on whether to confirm Smedley within 60 days of the appointment.

His appointment will be officially announced at a press conference Thursday at 11 a.m. at Station 32 in Rockville.

Smedley has held his position in Prince George's County since January, according to his LinkedIn page. Prior to that, he served as the City of Alexandria's first black fire chief for over four years and spent over eight years in their fire department. He retired from the department in January, according to the Alexandria Times.

“The first thing is a challenging role,” Smedley told the Alexandria Times in December before his retirement. “You can ask anyone who has done something for the very first time that has never been done, it’s very difficult. Now you add the things that this country has had problems with race relations, it just added another layer to the situation.

He spent more than 20 years with the Prince George's County Fire Department before accepting this position in Alexandria.

This is the second nomination from Elrich's office to replace Scott Goldstein, who resigned in July. Gary Cooper currently serves as interim fire chief.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) Division Chief Charles Bailey was appointed by Elrich to the position in November. However, Elrich let Bailey's appointment expire in March after the County Council failed to vote on Bailey's confirmation within the deadline mandated by county code.

“After consultation with members of the County Council, a path forward for the appointment of Division Chief Charles Bailey as Chief of Montgomery Fire and Rescue Services was not deemed feasible,” the door said Elrich spokesperson Scott Peterson in an email to MoCo360 in March.

The decision not to proceed with Bailey's appointment follows the release days earlier of a memorandum from the Montgomery County Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding a high-ranking MCFRS employee. According to the memorandum, a high-ranking MCFRS employee engaged in misconduct in 2019 and 2021, violating the code of conduct. The identity of the employee is unknown.

Elrich and officials in his office told MoCo360 they could not comment on the identity of the unnamed fire official in the OIG report or whether Bailey was connected to the report because it is a personnel matter. Elrich defended his choice of Bailey in the days after dropping the nomination after the firefighters union criticized Elrich's selection process.

Bailey was then transferred to the position of Division Chief of Support Services for MCFRS on March 24.

The County Council will have to vote on whether to confirm Smedley within 60 days of the appointment, as required by county code.

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