Yesterday, Pensacola Deputy Fire Chief Joe Glover, a 27-year veteran of the Pensacola Fire Department, was placed on administrative leave without any explanation.
Glover said that Chief Matt Schmitt called him last week while he was on military training at Keelser AFB in Biloxi, Miss. He is a senior master sergeant in the Air Force reserves.
City Administrator Eric Olson wanted to meet with him and Schmidt, who has been the acting fire chief since 2010. The meeting was eventually scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. in city hall.
“We show up, and Tracy Walsh (from Human Resources) and Mr. Wilkins (Keith Wilkins, asst. city administrator) were they were waiting for us,†said Glover. “I never met Mr. Wilkins before. I knew Tracy. She looked really nervous and uncomfortable.â€
He asked where was Olson and was told he wouldn’t be attending since he and the HR director, Edward Sisson, were named in complaints. Glover explained to Inweekly that both he and Schmitt had recently filed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints.
Glover’s complaint dealt with discrimination regarding his pay. Schmidt’s concerned retaliation by Olson and Sisson after the chief had told the city administrator that he felt Sisson was discriminating against Glover.
According to Glover, Wilkins gave the two fire department leaders memos, asked them to read and sign the documents.
“We didn’t have to sign it but I acknowledged that I received it or whatever,†said Glover. “The memos basically told us that we’re not to talk to anyone in the fire department, not to go the fire stations. We had to give up our keys to all of the buildings, our fobs, anything that gave us access to anything in the city. “
He said they had to find their own ways home, because Wilkins wouldn’t allow them to use fire department vehicles. They couldn’t go back to the station and get their personal items.
“They just kept stressing this is non-disciplinary,†said Glover. “They did everything but put hand cuffs on us.â€
Glover said he felt that Olson and Sisson are retaliating against him and his boss for filing the complaints. He believes they have tried to hurt his name.
“One thing that hurts the most, on a personal note, is the one good thing, the best thing that my father left me was a good name,†he said.
“My dad was a sharecropper up in South Carolina. He made something out of his life. He always kept a good name. He was a military man, and he was an alcohol and drug counselor, that’s what he did. He himself was addicted to alcohol at one time so he turned his life around. What I got from all that is he was able to make a good name for himself and that’s the best thing that he left for me and that’s been stripped, all in one fell swoop. “
Glover has no idea what the city is investigating.
“I’ve not done anything illegal. I’ve not done anything immoral. I’ve not done anything unethical. I’ve done none of those things. I don’t know what it is that they’re looking for or what this investigations about.â€
Glover said that he and Schmitt asked for an administrative appeal
“And Mr. Wilkins just said it’s noted,†he told Inweekly. “That’s another issue because the human resources manual has a whole section of the human resources manual that’s devoted to this appeals process. There’s no appeal board that’s been established. “
A few years ago – before Mayor Ashton Hayward was elected, Glover and other African-American firefighters had unsuccessfully tried to sue over discriminatory practices inside the fire department. While the department has improved, some inside city hall have blocked Glover being named the chief.
“I’ve been through this before. I’ve been retaliated against several times in my career,†he said. “Sometimes, well I try to take the high road, but at some point you have to take a stand. I guess my biggest fault is thinking and believing that justice will always prevail, but that’s not the case.â€
He added, “Unfortunately, people don’t care about playing by the rules. They don’t care about what the laws say. They don’t even care about what their own human resources manual says. I think there’s a thought that within the city, the administration that if you’re an at-will employee that they can pretty much treat you how they want to. I’m just not one that will sit back and be mistreated.â€
The city has been silent to what the fire department investigation entails. According to news reports, an attorney has been hired to do the investigation. To whom that attorney reports his findings is unknown.
Until the investigation is complete, Glover can only wait and hope he will have an opportunity to clear his name.
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Note: City Administrator Eric Olson refused an interview with Inweekly, but did appear on a local radio station. Olson denied the assertion that the city didn’t over the dismissed fire department leaders a ride home.