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Fire chief's e-mails make Tampa blush
Mayor Pam Iorio called the messages embarrassing but said Dennis Jones is unlikely to be punished.
By BRADY DENNIS
Published February 23, 2005
TAMPA - Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones violated city policy on multiple occasions in 2003 by sending personal e-mails - at least two of them sexual in nature - from his city account.
The e-mails, brought to light Tuesday by Ch. 10-WTSP reporter Mike Deeson, meant another blemish to a department that has faced its share of embarrassments in recent months.
One e-mail includes a photo of a shapely woman in a thong bikini. She is on her hands and knees, bending seductively on the bow of a boat. The second e-mail contains a photo of two giraffes having sexual intercourse.
Both e-mails were sent in late January 2003, while Jones was the airport fire chief. He became the city's top fire chief this past fall after the resignation of embattled Chief Aria Green, who had butted heads with the firefighter's union and Mayor Pam Iorio over his straight-laced leadership style.
Tuesday's revelation came on the heels of an incident in which two strippers were photographed naked at a North Tampa fire station. After those pictures ended up on numerous Web sites, city officials fired a longtime department captain who organized the shoot and suspended four other firefighters for lying about the incident.
Tuesday brought another dose of humiliation.
"I'm embarrassed for the embarrassment it causes the mayor, the city, for my department," Jones told Deeson.
He said he was aware of city policy that states the computer network "is for city of Tampa business only," but he said he often works 12-hour days and sometimes used the city e-mail simply as a convenience. He also said times have changed.
"I would say the culture of our department for years was much more relaxed," Jones said.
The incident marked the second flap in several weeks about inappropriate e-mails sent by city employees. Earlier this month, city officials acknowledged that they are looking into complaints made by four former parking division employees that the problem is widespread and involves people from departments ranging from police to administration.
The inquiry started after the men - fired in May for sending e-mails with discriminatory references to sex, race and ethnicity, and with sexually explicit jokes and photographs - tried to appeal their firings before a civil service board in November.
They provided hundreds of pages of e-mails sent by city employees that included everything from raunchy images and crude jokes to congratulatory pleasantries and benign lunch plans.
Mayor Pam Iorio on Tuesday called the fire chief's e-mails "plain embarrassing" and said she had spoken to Jones about them. Still, she said his e-mails were not as egregious as the ones that sparked last year's firings. He is unlikely to face punishment.
"People make mistakes," Iorio told Deeson. "He's been very professional. He's been very mature in his judgment" since taking over as chief, she said.
Jones, whose department has faced one image problem after another, said he hopes the public doesn't judge the fire department based only on its recent bad publicity.
"The average guy at home should think Tampa Fire Rescue is an outstanding operation," he said.
[Last modified February 23, 2005, 00:34:19]
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