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Fire chief on leave, his job on line

One commissioner and the union are unhappy with John Leahy of Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published June 25, 2006

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - In a surprise move, the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District put its fire chief on paid administrative leave Tuesday after one commissioner called for him to be fired.

Fire Chief John Leahy, who earns $86,377 annually and has held his job since July 2001, also came under fire from the union representing the district's firefighters.

"It came as a shock, right out of the blue," said commission chairman Tom Hafner.

Hafner dismissed the union's complaints as "whining" and said he expects Leahy to be back at his job after the next commission meeting in July.

The move to fire Leahy was made by Commissioner James Mortellite, whose brother works for the department as a firefighter.

Mortellite said Leahy should be fired because he "does not follow the direction of the commission" and has failed to resolve conflicts between the district and the communities it serves.

"I don't know how you can say that," said Leahy, who strongly defended his management of the department.

Hafner took sharp issue when Mortellite said it was "rumored" that the chief was "working against the department's goals."

"What was the rumor?" Hafner asked. "You need to come up with some facts. You are talking about terminating somebody. You should be specific."

Mortellite also charged that Leahy was unable to develop "working relationships" with city officials, the county and other fire chiefs. He said there is a "continuing decline of morale with employees" and a "lack of leadership and management."

In addition to citing a "lack of confidence" in Leahy, Mortellite called for an investigation of a meeting in April involving the chief, Hafner and Commissioner John Todia that may have violated the Sunshine Law. All three officials denied there was any violation.

None of the other commissioners supported outright firing Leahy, but did indicate they wanted to review the documents provided by the union, Indian Rocks Professional Firefighters, Local 3206. Only Hafner voted against putting Leahy on leave.

The union, which will soon start negotiations to replace a contract expiring in October, says Leahy has accused them of "violating the rules, regulations, SOPs, and chain of command" by bringing department issues directly to the commissioners and by meeting independently with mayors of the towns served by the district.

The union did meet repeatedly with area city officials in an attempt to help resolve an ongoing dispute that resulted in an official review of the department's operations and finances by Pinellas County and the municipalities of Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach and Indian Shores.

Also at issue is the union's unsuccessful attempt to develop interest in merging its department with Madeira Beach Fire Department to create a beachwide department.

In December, Leahy wrote a memo to the union urging them not to continue meeting with community officials about the future of the fire district and to keep their activities "in-house."

Leahy told union officials that such actions would "adversely affect the credibility" of the district fire commission.

The union complained that many of Leahy's memos to them are "argumentative and arbitrary" and that Leahy "threatened" union president Todd Grantham. Leahy denies this.

"The chief downplays everything the union tries to accomplish," says Grantham. "He has an inability or a lack of desire to compromise."

The fire district commission will meet July 18 to decide on any action on Leahy.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 02:54:19]