Fire Commissioners Vote Twice

SPRING HILL - Three were decisive at the start.

Two fire bosses voted not to renew the fire chief's contract.

The longest-serving board member refused to end the chief's tenure and called him the best chief the district ever had.

Two other fire commissioners, including the chairman, opted to abstain or hold their vote. It was 2-1 the district's top officer would not be keeping his job for much longer.

"No, no, no," said district attorney Andrew Salzman. "You have to vote. Everyone needs to vote."

Salzman was seated next to an expressionless Chief J.J. Morrison, who was not expecting the fate of his firefighting career to be decided Wednesday night.

A five-minute recess was called, during which fire board Chairman Charles Raborn spoke with the chief.

Thirty minutes later, the five-man board resumed the meeting and voted 4-1 not to give Morrison another six years on the job.

Previously during the meeting, Salzman suggested holding onto Morrison as an "at-will" employee until a draft of the contract was finished. Commissioners decided there was no need to finish it.

Before long, fire commissioner George Biro made a motion to vote on whether to reject the pending contract. That was quickly seconded by Robert Giammarco.

The chairman was caught off guard. He was not expecting a vote on the matter.

"A lot of points have been made tonight," Raborn said after commissioners Biro, Giammarco and Leo Jacobs spoke about Morrison's health and/or lack of productivity.

"This is new," the chairman told Salzman. "This isn't what I was expecting tonight."

The attorney warned the board against being too hasty. He said Morrison's public speaking and political skills will be difficult to replace by someone on staff.

Their decision also would almost certainly have an impact on the contracts for other top brass. The deck would need to be reshuffled in order to find a temporary replacement in case the chief is no longer with the district after his contract expires Jan. 31.

"If this is what you're going to do, I'd rather know now," Salzman told the board.

A few minutes later, commissioners made their initial votes.

Raborn would not disclose any details of the closed-door conversation he had with Morrison during the recess.

"I needed to get some facts," he said.

Giammarco went into Wednesday's meeting thinking he would be the only one to vote against renewing Morrison's contract. He was not expecting Biro's motion.

"That kind of shocked me," Giammarco said.

Union president Troy Hagar suggested the board conduct a nationwide search for at least six months to find a qualified successor.

Giammarco said he would consider it, but suggested there were enough people in the department who are qualified. He mentioned Mike Rampino by name during the meeting.

"I don't know what's possible at this point after what happened (Wednesday) night," Rampino said when contacted by phone. "But they didn't terminate (Chief Morrison). He's still my boss. He's still my chief until I'm told otherwise."

The district's second in command, Assistant Chief Bill Davies, was given a 4.5 percent raise by commissioners minutes after Morrison's proposed contract was rejected. It was merely a coincidence. The matter already had been put on the agenda for a vote.

Davies refused to speculate about what would happen with the chief's position.

"I have no idea," he said. "I'm not going to go out on the limb and say anything. I have no comment at this time."

Fire Commissioner Gene Panozzo was the lone board member who supported Morrison with his vote.

Following the recess and seconds before the official vote, Panozzo gave his fellow board members a warning similar to Salzman's. Only he was more direct.

"He is the best chief you've had ever," he said. "Think about that before you make your decision."