Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward addressed with the News Journal concerns that the Beggs & Lane attorney Russell Van Sickle’s investigation of Fire Chief Matt Schmitt and Deputy Fire Chief Joe Glover was not independent. The mayor dismissed on May 10 the fire chiefs based on Van Sickle’s findings published in a report delivered to the mayor two weeks ago.
Hayward told PNJ reporter Will Isern that City Administrator Eric Olson and Chief Human Resources Officer Ed Sisson had no involvement in the investigation. He said the three-month investigation was “entirely independent.â€
Last week, Council President Charles Bare said that his review of Beggs & Lane invoices made him think “not investigation but impeachment†when it came to the investigation of the fire chiefs.
During the May 12 council meeting, he said, “I started looking at the Beggs & Lane invoices and the number of contacts that Ed Sisson has had with Russ VanSickle and the Mayor has had over a period of months leading up to this investigation and what comes to my mind in not investigation but impeachment.â€
Former Council President Maren Deweese posted Monday on her blog the Beggs & Lane invoices.
Deweese wrote, “Billing records from Beggs & Lane reflect, in fact, VanSickle had been retained for almost a year for HR related matters including the hiring of Eric Olson, the departure of Tamara Fountain, defending the City in an ongoing EEOC complaint and changes to the Employee Manual concerning the Appeals Panel.†Read VanSickle Deceived Public and Chiefs Claiming Independence.
Van Sickle refused to discuss with the PNJ his invoices and his other work for the City and its HR department, citing attorney-client privilege. Though his invoices show that he was consulted about the HR manual, the attorney said he did not redraft the manual.
Read More records released in Pensacola firefighter firings – PNJ, 5/17/16
On 1620 AM this morning, Mayor Hayward was not asked any questions about the independence of the investigation. He knew very little about the additional documents concerning the investigation that were uploaded on the city’s website late Friday afternoon, but said he would check into it when he got into the office.
Bare has called for a special Pensacola City Council meeting on Thursday, May 26, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in Council Chambers. The subject of the meeting is: Investigative Report & Termination of Fire Chiefs.
The mayor said on the radio that he “absolutely” will not attend the meeting.
“I think holding a staged rally for terminated employees is below the dignity of the council, Andrew,” said Hayward. “I’m not going to be there.”
The mayor said that he would meet privately with council members to discuss the terminations. He said, “You’re not going to discuss in public the dismissal of any employee.”
Mayor Hayward has declined two interview requests from Inweekly. He has repeatedly referred the media and the public to Van Sickle’s report to justify the terminations, but he has not explained how the findings influenced his decision. Mayor Hayward has not meet with Schmitt or Glover to explain his decision. The two men had to download the report from the city website to learn of the findings.
Neither Mayor Hayward, Van Sickle nor anyone from the City has gone through the six complaints filed by Chief Human Resource Officer Ed Sisson against Schmitt and Glover with the media, public or the fire chiefs.
Half of the complaints (BMW, Dinner Remarks, Drug Test) were found to be not worthy of any disciplinary action. The investigation of battalion pay raises found fault with City Administrator Eric Olson, Chief Human Resources Officer Ed Sisson and the chiefs. The complaint of not using an interview panel involved an unwritten protocol and inexplicably included the deputy chief in the complaint though clearly Glover was not involved in the decision. And the complaint involving Lt. Deas’ demotion concerned conflicting policies in the HR manual and the fire department chain-of-command that could have been resolved quickly by the mayor or Olson.
Citizens and reporters have been told by the mayor to go to the report to understand the terminations.
“I think after you read the report and the way they managed the office you just lose confidence.†(PNJ, “Mayor dismisses fire chiefs,†May 11)
“There are substantial facts in the report that made it for me; easier than I anticipated.†(WEAR TV, “Two top Pensacola fire officials let go,†May 10)
“The overall totality of the report – the facts supported what we talked about, so it was easy to look at the report and take my time, but most importantly make the decision.†(WUWF, “Changes at the Top at the Pensacola Fire Dept.,†May 11)
“I think you’re a smart lady, once you see the report and read the report you’ll understand what’s in the report and you’ll have more questions.†(Pensacola Voice, “City Mayor Terminates Chief and Deputy Chief of the Fire Department,†May 13)
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These statements simply are not enough explanation for terminating two men with more than 50 years of service combined with the city’s top-rated service, Pensacola Fire Department.