Fire Rescue commissioners say Jeff Parks' work has improved since he was notified that his contract would not be extended. Some also say they didn't give him a fair chance after putting him on probation.
By NORA KOCH
Published October 1, 2004
EAST LAKE - Hired. Fired. Hired again. And so goes the saga of Fire Chief Jeff Parks.
At an East Lake Fire Rescue commission meeting Wednesday night, new Commissioner Tom McKone suggested that the board extend a new, temporary contract to Parks, who was told he was being fired in May.
In an about-face, the divided board unanimously agreed.
They had their reasons.
The collection of resumes sent in July weren't fresh enough to produce the best candidate to replace Parks, McKone said.
It was poor timing to choose a new No. 1, with the board bogged down this season in budget wrangling and collective bargaining, said board attorney Andrew Salzman.
Election day, when two of the board's seats will be decided, is creeping closer. A new board could be saddled with this board's decisions, said Commissioner Wilbur F. Cannon.
And, said Commissioner Chuck Dedman on Thursday, "In the last several weeks there has been a marked improvement in the chief's performance."
In August 2003, a majority of the five-member board, including Dedman, was unhappy with Parks' performance - or, others say, in a huff because Parks refused to fire a firefighter who offended them at a meeting. Parks was placed on probation that month. In May, the board voted 3-2 not to renew his contract.
He was asked to stay in the job while the board conducted a nationwide search for his replacement.
In July, East Lake received 36 applications for the chief job, including a resume from Parks. Commissioners pored over the applications between union negotiations and budget hearings and seemed poised to select a panel of finalists.
Then at Wednesday's meeting, McKone, who has sat on the board for about one month, made a motion to keep Parks.
Parks, 41, was shocked, he said, when commissioners made the offer.
The board voted unanimously to offer Parks a contract that will last until June 2005 at his current salary and benefits package. After the Nov. 2 election, the new board will compile a list of objectives for the chief's performance, which will be reviewed at the end of March.
Two of the board's five seats, which are elected for staggered four-year terms, are up for grabs next month. Commissioner Jim Nobles will face newcomer Mark Weinkrantz in the November election, and Commissioner James Galloway will run against former board member C.G. "Chuck" Schult. Cannon, an eight-year board veteran, received no opposition and was automatically re-elected.
Maybe, in the past, this board didn't give the chief a fair shake in the first place, some board members suggested at the meeting. After he was put on probation, he was not given the routine performance appraisals from the board that had been promised.
"We botched the job," Nobles said.
Nobles, along with Galloway and Dedman, were for months aligned to oust Parks. They cited a bevy of grievances with Parks: He should have told them, they say, when his contract expired. He shouldn't have taken a training trip in April that the board, itself, approved. He should use better grammar in his memos.
Others said the decision was a power play by a board majority that wants to keep a tight rein on the department's day-to-day operations.
But Parks' performance is on the upswing, Dedman said.
"There have been several instances, several executive meetings where there have been questions that needed to be answered and Jeff had the answers right there," Dedman praised.
As for the chief, he is grateful to have nine more months at the helm of the department where he's worked since 1984 and been chief since 2001.
"If I could," he asked the board at the end of their meeting, "I'd like to publicly thank the board for allowing me to continue to serve the board.
