Longview fire chief: No basis to lose job

Pruitt contends assistant chief source of conflict
Fire Chief Michael Pruitt said he will fight for his job tonight when administrators ask the Longview City Council to terminate his employment. City Manager David Willard on Friday placed the fire chief on paid administrative leave after Pruitt declined Willard’s request that he resign.

The fire chief released a statement Wednesday, blaming Assistant Chief Kenny Southwell for “hearsay allegations” that Pruitt said led to the city manager’s decision.

Council members nearly two years ago selected Pruitt from seven semi-finalists, including Southwell, as fire chief.

“Since day one, Assistant Chief Southwell has made it his mission to make me aware that I secured the job as fire chief because a city councilperson made reference to selecting a black fire chief,” Pruitt said in a prepared statement. “He has raised issues that range from I am an angry person to I micromanage the fire department.”

After speaking with city officials, Southwell declined to comment on Pruitt’s statements.

Mayor Jay Dean and District 3 Councilwoman Sidney Bell Willis said no council member or city administrator ever made race a part of their decision to hire Pruitt.

Regarding Pruitt’s comments about Southwell, Dean said, “Only recently, (Pruitt) was talking to other members of the fire department on the job Chief Southwell was doing and that’s why he had him in that position.”

Willard reiterated Wednesday that it was solely his decision to recommend the termination based on performance and department morale.

“I wish to withhold further comment until the issue can be discussed with council on Thursday night,” Willard said. “Yet, I want to make it clear that my decision had nothing to do with Assistant Chief Kenny Southwell, who I believe has acted in a professional manner since I have known him.”

The council meets at 5:30 today at City Hall, 300 W. Cotton St.

Pruitt’s comments about Southwell are not the first time he’s raised concerns about the assistant fire chief. According to a letter from Human Resources Director Karri Hyko to Willard, Pruitt has raised questions about his salary and Southwell’s salary. Pruitt earns $97,000 annually, while Southwell earns $94,602 annually, including $3,900 in certification and paramedic pay.

In the letter to Willard, Hyko wrote, “Although you increased his base pay … (Pruitt) still thinks his pay and Chief Southwell’s are still too close together.”

On Friday, Dean said the chief’s lack of interpersonal skills had resulted in a fragmented fire department. Dean attributed his findings to a Longview Professional Firefighters Association survey three weeks ago. In the survey, more than 40 percent of 108 respondents said fire department administrators were not open to firefighters’ opinions, did not provide adequate training for advancement and did not appreciate the job employees perform.

Pruitt said the association conducted the survey specifically to discount his credibility. Pruitt is a member of the association but did not participate in the survey, he said.

“I did not know what the survey was designed to measure,” Pruitt said, “and in my 32 years in fire service, I have never seen a fire survey like this one.”

Capt. Wayne Oldham, president of the Longview Professional Firefighters Association, said the survey was conducted after several residents received letters from an anonymous source criticizing the chief for management of fire equipment within the department. Oldham said he and other association leaders set a meeting Oct. 14 to discuss the survey’s results, but Pruitt didn’t attend.

“We wouldn’t have been at this point today if he would have shown up at that meeting,” Oldham said. “As of this date, we have not heard a word from the guy.”

On Wednesday, Pruitt said Willard told him in October that his job performance was not an issue. Under Pruitt’s tenure, the department has reduced expenses by about $300,000 in the past two years, is completely staffed for the first time in several years and has sustained savings in overtime pay, he said. A May community assessment revealed residents rated fire and emergency services as tops among city services, he said.

In a statement released Friday, Willard said his decision to ask for Pruitt’s resignation and eventually his termination was not from any single incident, but instead over concerns about leadership within the department affecting employee morale and impacting the department’s service to the community.
By Jimmy Isaac in The Longview News-Journal