{"id":542710,"date":"2026-01-25T22:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/542710\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T22:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:21:17","slug":"chief-valerie-frausto-reflects-on-her-first-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/542710\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief Valerie Frausto reflects on her first year"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Valerie Frausto was sworn in as San Antonio\u2019s first female fire chief<\/a> in late 2024, she didn\u2019t just inherit a department of 1,800-plus personnel; she inherited a culture she said was in need of repair<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After a year defined by leadership transitions and public scrutiny<\/a> as the former fire chief retired following an investigation that found he made \u201cinappropriate and offensive\u201d comments, Frausto\u2019s first full calendar year has been what she calls a \u201creset\u201d\u2014 a return to the fundamentals of trust, tradition and long-term planning.<\/p>\n

A San Antonio native with 24 years in the department, Frausto has spent the past 12 months balancing the weight of emergency response with the internal work needed. From approving custom station T-shirts to launching a department-wide \u201cneeds assessment\u201d that will map out the next 15 years of growth, Frausto is moving the department with a forward-looking stride.<\/p>\n

As she enters her second year, Frausto sat down with the San Antonio Report to discuss the quiet work of rebuilding a department\u2019s morale, leadership structure and how she plans to prepare the department for a rapidly growing city.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

You just finished your first full calendar year as San Antonio\u2019s fire chief. When you look back on 2025, what stands out to you the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The entire year has been surreal, but overall it was a very smooth transition. What stands out the most is the overall change in leadership.<\/p>\n

It was a long-awaited and much-needed reset to restore everybody\u2019s sense of purpose, including my own. It was a great opportunity for us to sit down as a group, be open to others\u2019 input, and look at where we are today and where we want to be years from now.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really what stands out the most \u2014 the collaboration and the people stepping up during the last year. You see new motivation, like a renewed spirit. It\u2019s kind of hard to explain, but that\u2019s what I\u2019m reflecting back on.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the hardest part of leading the fire department that people outside of it don\u2019t see or maybe don\u2019t realize?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The extent of the responsibility. I go to sleep every night worried about what may happen. I just don\u2019t want anybody suffering mentally or encountering physical challenges on the job. I want everybody to be safe and go home after every shift.<\/p>\n

It weighs on me sometimes, and I think that\u2019s something other people will never understand unless it\u2019s on their shoulders. I hold that responsibility in the highest regard. It\u2019s just what I do. It\u2019s my responsibility, and I own that.<\/p>\n

You made history as the first woman to lead the fire department. You\u2019ve said you don\u2019t fixate on that. Was there a time in your first year when that reality hit you, either publicly or internally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It never really did. It came to light with all the interviews in the first couple of months \u2014 probably from November through January \u2014 and it still does to this day, but not to the extent that it did initially.<\/p>\n

But I always go back to this: I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s a big deal to me. I just feel like everybody else. If you work hard in the positions that you hold, over time \u2014 if you\u2019re qualified and deserving of the opportunity \u2014 it will come. And that\u2019s how I feel. It just kind of lined up right for me.<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the San Antonio Professional Fire Fighters Association campaign against Proposition C on the ballot in November 2024, an amendment to the city\u2019s charter that would allow City Council to set the terms regarding the pay and tenure of the city manager. <\/p>\n

When you took over, the department was coming out of a very public leadership controversy. What did repairing the culture mean to you in practice, and what progress have you seen in the past year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s been significant progress. I know that because I hear it from almost every interaction with those in the field, through various channels \u2014 not only above me, but below me as well.<\/p>\n

Even executive leadership \u2014 City Manager Erik Walsh \u2014 has commented that just walking through H-E-B, he will have retired or active firefighters come up to him and say, \u201cMan, you made the right choice. I\u2019m hearing nothing but great things about Chief Frausto and the department and where they\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is definitely motivating and encouraging because I see it in practice every day. I see the new leadership team stepping up, wanting to make a difference and actually being open to hearing others\u2019 opinions. They\u2019re inviting them in to talk about what the priorities are, setting those priorities and then taking action on them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really what\u2019s made a significant difference. I think the field knows that and feels that we\u2019re open to their ideas.<\/p>\n

Morale is a big topic of discussion when it comes to public safety departments. What would you say you\u2019ve done to build trust with firefighters and paramedics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In terms of morale, we don\u2019t want to be a department that just checks the boxes. We want to make improvements and be mindful of every decision that comes out of this office. We\u2019ve done a lot in terms of revising policies.<\/p>\n

That includes things like vacation selections, which have been kind of limited in the past. We\u2019ve been open to more flexibility, which improves work-life balance. We\u2019ve also authorized things like custom T-shirts for individual stations. We came out with a new policy that allows for that, as well as custom helmet fronts.<\/p>\n

For some, it may sound silly, but these are important changes for the department because we\u2019re very tradition-based. That is what the fire service is known for, and we take pride in our traditions.<\/p>\n

Those are some of the smaller changes we\u2019ve made, and the department knows we\u2019re working for them \u2014 and we\u2019re not here to just fill a seat. We\u2019re trying to make improvements for them.<\/p>\n

Prior to becoming chief, you held a variety of leadership roles within the department. What part of your background do you think ended up being the most valuable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every step of the way \u2014 from the very beginning as a firefighter riding on the back of a fire truck to overseeing various divisions, and having my hand in things like the discipline process. All of that came together in the end, and all of it was extremely important.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s for that reason that we\u2019re trying to strengthen the leadership pipeline internally. We\u2019ve created a few new positions to get people in the mix and get them exposed to some of the things that go on day to day outside of the field.<\/p>\n

Everybody loves being in the field. If I could spend 50% of my day in the field, I probably would. I\u2019d still want to make calls. The reality is, somebody has to be here managing personnel. So it\u2019s important that we prioritize the next generation of leaders, and that\u2019s what we have been working toward.<\/p>\n

\"\"San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto poses for a portrait at the Public Safety Headquarters in downtown San Antonio on Jan. 14, 2025. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Building off that, you\u2019ve emphasized professional development and building a pipeline to leadership, mentorship and succession planning. What changes have you already implemented?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are definitely stressing all the career opportunities that we offer. There are so many different job types, positions and assignments that are available. Some of them are on shift schedules, some are on a 40-hour week.<\/p>\n

In either case, we\u2019ve created new positions. One of those is the professional development chief, and that person is already in place. That role is really focused on promotion readiness and professional development.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re making sure firefighters have training opportunities, offering certifications and encouraging them to complete their degrees, because all of that is important as they move up the ranks. We want to be giving them that experience and that solid background that will support them every step of the way so they\u2019re ready for those higher-level positions.<\/p>\n

Just recently, we began working to bring everybody to the table \u2014 both from the union and the administrative side \u2014 to identify people who have a passion for training. We want to ensure that we\u2019re developing a program where, as people promote, they\u2019re going to be ready to take on those responsibilities.<\/p>\n

That is something we just recently established, and we\u2019re in the process of scheduling our first meeting. I think that\u2019s going to go a long way by giving people the opportunity to present new ideas and identify where we need to improve \u2014 what other training we can put in place, and how we can support the promotion process.<\/p>\n

What would you want year two to look like as chief, and what would be the biggest next step to get moving in that direction?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We made significant progress and improvements in year one. So in year two, we\u2019re striving to do the same thing \u2014 and a lot of that is going to be centered around a needs assessment.<\/p>\n

The needs assessment is something we\u2019re going through the request for proposals process for, and we\u2019re going to identify a firm that will break this department apart and look at staffing, equipment, apparatus and facilities.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re really going to look at everything to give us a good assessment of where we are and where we need to be 15 years from now. And that\u2019s not only accounting for future city growth, but also looking at whether we\u2019re even behind where we need to be at this point in time.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know exactly where we stand, and that report is going to serve as a master plan and planning tool. That\u2019s what I\u2019m looking forward to. We\u2019re going to get a lot of our direction from that document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Valerie Frausto was sworn in as San Antonio\u2019s first female fire chief in late 2024, she didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":542711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,20781,12768,6526,12769,32921,239200,14357,7202,239201,38012,239202,239203,7203,358,7453,3187,7593,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,69632,7455],"class_list":{"0":"post-542710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fire-department","10":"tag-firefighter","11":"tag-firefighters","12":"tag-morale","13":"tag-qa","14":"tag-question-and-answer","15":"tag-safd","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-san-antonio-fire","18":"tag-san-antonio-fire-department","19":"tag-san-antonio-firefighters-association","20":"tag-san-antonio-firefighters-union","21":"tag-sanantonio","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-top-story","24":"tag-tx","25":"tag-typefeature","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-of-america","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-usa","32":"tag-valerie-frausto","33":"tag-wc-1500-2000"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115958073702872193","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}