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Fire investigation spurs closed-door talks by council |
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Friday, 14 March 2008 |
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By Matt Burks
and Jillian Duke
Courier Staff A late arrival of Bryant firefighters to express their vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Randy Cox sparked City Council members and the mayor to hold three executive sessions during a meeting Thursday night.
“Mr. Mayor and council members, let me first say this is not with great joy by any means that we are bringing you information today,” said Gary Seibel, treasurer of the newly formed Bryant firefighters union.
“However, we wanted to make certain that you were the first to hear results of our votes,” Seibel said. “We had a meeting of all of our union members. There was a motion brought forth to take a vote of no confidence against Fire Chief Randy Cox. The result of that vote was an overwhelming vote of no confidence.”
Seibel then read the following no-confidence document to the council: “We, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4606 hereby express our complete, total and absolute lack of faith in Fire Chief Randy Cox’s ability to manage the Bryant Fire Department. We have serious concerns about his integrity, honesty, character, and professional fire service leadership skills.”
The document further states that Cox’s “seemingly totalitarian philosophy is not conducive to good working morale and has led to a fundamental and irreversible breakdown of trust. We feel this lack of self-control and leadership skills is leading the Bryant Fire Department to a foreseeable disaster, which the end result will be a totally dysfunctional fire department and public relations nightmare.
“We feel we are rapidly heading in that direction. We feel the chief is both arrogant and dictatorial, and has been unfair in promotions and discipline. He seems to have no loyalty to the Bryant firefighters and doesn’t know the difference between serving himself and others. We respectfully ask [Bryant City Council and Mayor Larry Mitchell] that you remove Randy Cox from the position of Bryant fire chief.”
Cox, who has been fire chief since 1999, went on medical leave in mid-February when two firefighters he had fired were permitted to return to duty.
Cox and the fire department are under an internal investigation.
When questioned by the Courier on Monday, Shayne King, city personnel director, denied that an investigation concerning the fire chief was in progress. However, at the council meeting Thursday, when asked by Alderman Rick Meyer when the investigation began, she said, “The investigation started Feb. 28.”
Mitchell acknowledged Tuesday that an internal investigation is ongoing. “There is an investigation going on within the fire department itself,” Mitchell told the Courier.
The mayor declined to provide specifics of the probe.
After hearing the vote of no confidence by the Bryant firefighters, Mitchell questioned the fire security of Bryant residents during the time the union meeting was taking place. The union meeting took place at 6:30 p.m., and the council meeting started at 7.
Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Futch, who is acting chief, said he was aware the firefighters would be at the meeting and it was OK for them to be there.
Weger said today that the chief attended the union’s charter meeting. The mayor and City Council members were invited and everyone on duty was invited to attend.
“All the crews were available last night,” Weger said. Even if all stations are not covered, which happens often, he said, “everyone is available.”
Following the announcement from the firefighters, the council presented a motion to go into executive session. Upon the council’s return, aldermen questioned whether they could be custodians of the investigative materials. City attorney Nga Starzewski said she would seek an attorney general’s opinion on this issue.
Meyer then questioned King about the security of the records. She said they are locked in the human resources department and that she has the key and is the only person with access to the files.
Meyer also asked how many people have been questioned in the investigation. King said there have been 12. However, after a second executive session, Meyer asked King if there were 13 people questioned instead of 12 and she said she would have to get the files to count again.
The council voted 6-2 to seal all the documents related to the investigation and move them to the Bryant Police Department, where they will be kept in a locked safe. Alderman Danny Steele voted against the motion. Alderman Larry Smart was absent from the council meeting, which automatically counted as a “no” vote.
The council voted for the council, mayor, city attorney and King to jointly serve as custodians of the personnel investigative files.
A third executive session then was held. Upon return, the aldermen requested that the city attorney seek an opinion from Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office on who can serve as custodians of the records. Starzewski said it could take about a week to receive a reply.
The mayor said the investigation is not completed and that the files will be sealed until the attorney general’s opinion is received.
A Bryant police detective then came to the front and retrieved the files.
The meeting adjourned around midnight.
Weger said today he hopes the the issue is resolved soon. “I hope they finish the investigation, reach a conclusion and we can all move on from this.
“We hated that this had to come to this,” he added. “We didn’t get any joy out of presenting it. But when an overwhelming majority of firefighters feel this way, we felt we needed to let the city know that.”
Asked if he was surprised by the council’s reaction, Weger said: “We got what we expected. We didn’t expect them to take action last night.”
Weger said firefighters are uncertain if and when Cox will return to work. “We’ve heard through the rumor mill that he’s supposed to be back Monday.”
Cox repeatedly has declined to comment. |
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