Dick Barker, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Pensacola, yesterday sent a memo to City Administrator Eric Olson warning that any public discussion of Mayor Ashton Hayward’s investigation and termination of Fire Chief Matt Schmitt and Deputy Fire Chief Joe Glover by the City Council could lead to the city’s insurance carrier not covering any claims filed by the chiefs.
“In my 35-year career with the City of Pensacola, I do not recall any public meeting held to discuss employees dismissed by a City Manager or Mayor of the City of Pensacola,” wrote Barker. “Certainly, from a risk management perspective, it would be best to maintain the past practice of not publicly discussing employee-related matters. As the Chief Financial Officer of the City of Pensacola, it is important that you, the mayor and the city council be informed of the potential risks associated with this matter.”
On Feb.2, Mayor Ashton Hayward placed Schmitt and Glover on a paid-administrative leave, which lasted 90 days while Beggs & Lane attorney Russell Van Sickle investigated six complaints made by Chief Human Resources Officer Ed Sisson. The investigation and nine consecutive leaves were unprecedented actions taken by Mayor Hayward. The public was not told the reasons for the investigation. When the report was completed, the mayor did not meet with the fire chiefs or consult with individual council members.
On May 10, Mayor Hayward announced his decision to terminate the fire chiefs because of his loss of confidence in their ability to run the department. He did not meet with fire chiefs to tell why they were dismissed. He has not explained to the public his decision or how the report led to the terminations.
The report and accompanying documentation were uploaded to the city’s website after the decision was announced. Two days later, the mayor and Olson did not attend the Boyd Forum at the council meeting to hear the citizens voice their criticisms of the decision.
On May 18, Mayor Hayward made another unprecedented move. He published an open letter to the citizens of Pensacola on the city’s “Transparent Pensacola†page. Mayor Hayward called the special council meeting “ill-advised†and “a staged rally for the terminated employees.†He said that his firing of the two men with an combined 50+ years service with the Pensacola Fire Department was “an irrevocable decision.†The public reaction to the letter wasn’t positive.
Yesterday, Barker reenforced the mayor’s position that the special meeting was ill-advised. Though he doesn’t state that the mayor’s actions could led to lawsuits from Schmitt and Glover, Barker warned that the policy states that the insured can not admit liability without the insurer’s written consent.
He wrote, “Additionally, the policy provides that the insured will do nothing that may prejudice the insurer’s position or potential or actual rights of recovery.”
A breach of these provisions could result in the insurer declining coverage, according to Barker, “which would put the City of Pensacola taxpayers at risk for any claims that may arise from the dismissal of the Interim Fire Chief and the Deputy Fire Chief.”
Read Barker_Fire_Memo.