SOUTH DEERFIELD — Following the South County EMS Board of Oversight’s recommendation that came minutes prior, the Deerfield Selectboard voted to offer the agency’s chief role to an Auburn resident on Thursday.

Two finalists were interviewed and deliberations followed in a nearly four-hour joint meeting between South County EMS’ oversight board and the Deerfield Selectboard, which ended with Auburn resident Joshua Sparks, who now serves as the Auburn Fire Department’s EMS coordinator, receiving the job offer.

Deerfield is the fiduciary agent of South County EMS, therefore its Selectboard is the hiring authority for the chief’s position.

The recommendation was not without extensive debate between the South County EMS Board of Oversight, which evenly split its recommendation, 3-3, between Sparks and the other candidate, South County EMS paramedic and Deerfield resident Laurie McComb.

“I think the care the EMS team members provide is going to improve under both people,” said Deerfield Selectboard and South County EMS Board of Oversight member Tim Hilchey, who voted to recommend Sparks. “I really think this agency has been locally driven for a while and a fresh perspective would be a good thing.

“It might be easier for somebody that isn’t a part of that to see areas that could be tweaked and provide a more robust service,” Hilchey continued, noting the vote was a “very important decision.” “This is the first time leadership has changed since Zoe [Smith] was appointed. … I think the overriding concern for me, in my experience, is in the last year and a half, I do sort of think things had stagnated a bit.”

Each candidate was asked a series of questions by the Board of Oversight with topics ranging from their background, management style, work-life balances, budgeting tactics and implementing a positive work culture.

In his interview, Sparks said he has been working in emergency medical services since first hopping on an ambulance at 18 years old in 1993. In the time since, he spent time as a flight paramedic and worked as an organ donation coordinator at hospitals around New England before he took his current job as Auburn’s EMS coordinator.

Throughout his conversation with the Board of Oversight, Sparks emphasized the importance of being “goal-oriented” and adapting to the ever-changing emergency medical services landscape.

“Where we run into problems is where organizations become stagnant and resist change. Change is essential to emergency medical services,” Sparks said. “It’s constant, it’s never-ending, it will always be that way. That is at the heart of what we do.”

In the same vein, the board asked each candidate about their vision for the next five and 10 years of South County EMS. Sparks said the emergency medical services industry “is on the brink of complete crisis” due to the ever-increasing costs of providing emergency health care.

While he said he doesn’t like to think about the work they do in terms of costs, “what we do costs money” and he envisions more community initiatives, public-private partnerships and federal funding as some of the ways those shortfalls can be made up.

“I am not familiar with many EMS organizations that are in the black right now; it’s just a tough business. It’s even more expensive if you want to do it well,” he said. “We have to adapt to that, this is without question.”

During the Board of Oversight’s deliberations — and in the Deerfield Selectboard’s discussion following it — members said they were impressed that both candidates would be great fits for the job.

One point of discussion was McComb’s lifelong connections to Deerfield and her current experience with South County EMS, although the boards agreed that town connections should not rule Sparks out of the role.

“There’s nothing disqualifying for either candidate,” said South County EMS Board of Oversight and Sunderland Selectboard member Christyl Drake-Tremblay. “They’re so equally qualified, if it was offered to one and they turned it down, I wouldn’t think we’re in a horrible situation.”

Ultimately, the Board of Oversight voted 3-3 between the two candidates, with Whately representatives Fred Baron and Gary Stone joining Deerfield representative Matthew Russo in voting for McComb, while Drake-Tremblay, Hilchey and Board of Oversight Chair and Sunderland member Tom Fydenkevez voted for Sparks.

During the Deerfield Selectboard’s discussion, member Trevor McDaniel said both candidates were “amazing” and he was open to having an outsider come in to the agency, but that brings in the factor of a “known quantity and an unknown quantity.”

“I like the idea of a fresh perspective, but you never know what you’re going to get,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community right now and bringing in someone fresh and new would be a big change.”

Selectboard Chair Carolyn Shores Ness said her biggest concern was the “sustainability” of the three-town EMS service. She said Sparks’ wide variety of career experiences could keep the agency going during a tumultuous time for the country’s health care system.

“He was talking about adapting and that came up in several of his answers,” Shores Ness said. “I feel he could help us through that process and help keep our wonderful service wonderful.”

Finally, the Selectboard voted unanimously to begin negotiations with Sparks — although McDaniel said he voted “yes” so it would be unanimous — with one of their major sticking points being that they try to include a regional residency requirement in the contract for Sparks, who currently lives in Auburn.

Town Administrator Kayce Warren said she would need to talk to town counsel to figure out how a residency requirement would work, though.

If contract negotiations are successful, Sparks will succeed the agency’s longtime — and only — chief, Zoe Smith, who resigned from her role on July 1 to take a job with the state Department of Public Health. Paramedic and Deerfield resident Tim Drumgool has served as interim chief since July 1, and both the Board of Oversight and Deerfield Selectboard offered their gratitude for the job he’s done.

The Selectboard also thanked McComb, who sat through the discussion, for her continued work at South County EMS.

“I really respect the fact that Laurie is sitting here listening to this and being a professional,” Hilchey said before he and the board thanked her.

In her interview, McComb said she was sticking with the agency no matter the result because of her belief in South County EMS and her intention of working on more community outreach initiatives.

“Whether or not you all choose me as your new chief, I’m going to keep pushing for a lot of these initiatives because I think they’re really important,” she said. “We can do more when people aren’t in their worst day.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.