Laserfiche WebLink
City Council Minutes <br />September 4, 2018 <br />Page 9 <br />was going on, not waited until after his resignation. He said in a high level, director <br />position it comes with the territory that you have to put in extra hours. What <br />message does this send to other departments in the city? If they band together and <br />refuse to take shifts will their director cover for them? At what point does it become <br />the inmates running the asylum? What would have happened if there was no duty <br />officer on call? <br />Mr. Cunningham responded to the question of timing. He said supervisors at various <br />points were aware of the problem but felt the firefighters were hoping to "run the <br />chief out of town." He felt the situation was a case of the "inmates running they <br />asylum" and that, if a duty officer had not responded to an event that would have <br />been the "nail in the coffin" during an already tumultuous environment. <br />Councilmember Ovall questioned why the level of discussion never elevated to the <br />Council level. <br />Councilmember Wagner also questioned why Mr. Cunningham was asking for <br />additional compensation now he was gone. She wishes the discussion had happened <br />prior because she always felt Council and staff have a good relationship. She also <br />worries about setting a precedent. She hopes the recent reorganization will avoid this <br />ever happing again, but understands the circumstances and value of what he has <br />added to the department. She stated he did a good job during his time as Fire Chief <br />but isn't sure what the answer is. <br />Mayor Dietz asked for the logic of the amounts listed in the packet. <br />Mr. Cunningham appreciated Councilmember Wagner saying he had done a good <br />job. <br />Mayor Dietz recommended paying the former Chief some amount. <br />Mr. Beck stated he would take this direction and work to determine how to make a <br />payment and what the amount should be. <br />The consensus of the Council was that Mr. Beck should find a way to compensate <br />Mr. Cunningham with the dollar amount to be detetrnined. <br />10.2 Review of Fire Chief Position Description <br />Mr. Portner presented the staff report. <br />Mayor Dietz expressed concern over some of the wording in the job description, <br />particularly the section 2B which removed the phrase "Performs as Incident <br />Commander by directing firefighters at scene of fires and emergencies". <br />Mr. Portner stated several firefighters, including the deputy fire chief, are qualified as <br />an incident commander so the fire chief does not have to respond to all incidents. <br />P�0WE'REI <br />@ IT <br />A R URE <br />