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County Reacts To Public Safety Director’s Resignation; EMS Union Speaks Out
April 10, 2019
Escambia County administration is reacting to Tuesday’s resignation of Escambia County Public Safety Director Mike Weaver as the local EMS union also speaks out.
“We are extremely saddened to receive Mike Weaver’s letter of resignation. Mike has served the county as an EMT, paramedic, fire battalion chief, deputy fire chief, EMS division manager, in addition to his role of public safety director. We are losing almost 30 years of valuable knowledge, an exceptional employee, coworker and manager. However, we understand his personal choice to resign. It takes a very honorable person who can put the needs of Escambia County residents first, by not wanting to let differing agendas distract from the core of public safety,” Interim County Administrator Amy Lovoy said in a prepared statement.
In his resignation letter, Weaver said he resigned because “false accusations about my work performance and character are being made by an employee union.” He said the “slanderous comments can only distract others from the true needs of their Public Safety Department.”
“I have always held myself that the needs of my neighbors are always paramount to those of my own,” Weaver wrote.
Lovoy said Assistant County Administrator Matt Coughlin will take on the day-to-day duties of public safety director, and Deputy Fire Chief Paul Williams will serve as interim fire chief after Chief Rusty Nail departs. Last week, Nail announced his resignation effective June 1.
The Escambia County Professional Firefighters held a no-confidence vote on Weaver and called for his resignation last week. [Read more ...]
And Tuesday, the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics, representing Local 325, also announced they had unanimously approved a vote of no confidence in Weaver. The union represents Escambia County EMS employees.
In a letter, IAEP National Director Philip Petit cited a poor atmosphere and poor management by Weaver.
“All of these factors have severely damaged the relationship between the County’s first responders and those tasked with leading, protecting and managing the department,” Petit said. He blamed Weaver for the Nail’s resignation.
“Morale in the EMS Department remains at an all-time low. Retention of experienced employees is abysmal and recruitment of qualified new candidates remains difficult at best,” the union boss wrote.
Below: Mike Weaver’s resignation letter.
Comments
16 Responses to “County Reacts To Public Safety Director’s Resignation; EMS Union Speaks Out”
This county just sucks end of story.
I’m so sorry Mike, but it’s their loss, not yours!
You, like a lot of us, have devoted your entire adult life to helping others in their time of need and providing the services necessary to facilitate such help. However, when the politics become more important than the needs of the public, then it’s time to move on.
Best of luck,
Pat Ozment
DoD District Fire Chief/EMT (Retired)
‘Protecting Those Who Defend America’
This is just an asset lost to the County and Citizens. It matters not who runs a Department when it comes to your Budget requests. We all have very relevant needs and can show them.
But you get what you get and then spend it as wisely as you can. Just because 25 or 30 union members believe they know how to do it, well they are just the talkers.
At least Mr. Weaver won’t have to put up with this bull #### anymore.
Listening to 92.3 this morning I about fell out of my porch swing!! They’re bringing in Janice Kilgore to audit public safety. My brother-in-law informed me that Janice Kilgore was around when he was around in Escambia County decades ago. She’s one of Weavers best friends!!! She apparently Trained him in public safety when he started and had a reputation to work against the members of that office during her time. This is about as good Ole boy backass wards as you can get. Bring in the best friend of an individual whose being accused of stuffing his head in the sand during major investigations. Thankfully I pay my taxes in Alabama because I would be ticked off if my tax dollars went to such an embarrassing administration.
FYI (check your facts)
Ok then how many members were present for this vote, and how many are in your union. This seems to be something your group is hiding?
Denny
That may sound bad but you must remember 1/3 of the union is on duty at all times therefore they can’t be at the meeting. That leaves another 1/3 of them most work second or third jobs which doesn’t allow for them to make it now what’s left we’re out of town/had other obligations. I have not heard one person that disagrees with the vote though I won’t say they don’t exist.
Puppets
I can promise that the local union is not anything like the national union. Mr Weaver may have been a good man, he may have even been a good supervisor but what I can promise is he was a very poor supervisor of entire departments. The day I bought a bunch of cleaning supplies with my own money because they had been cut from the budget is the same day he cowered infront of the commission as lied to them about our needs and the situation we were and are in.
Hmm…100 percent of the union members attending the meeting were hot and bothered enough to vote against Weaver, but two-thirds of the union wasn’t bothered enough to show up.
EB
that will be handled shortly. this process takes time. the vote was from a quorum of members and all present voted for the no confidence.
Jerry
the interest’s of the union are the best interest’s of the citizens. an aging fleet, depleted manpower pools, crews stretched thin on med calls and covering fires, sometimes multiple fires in one day are the concerns. this has been going on for years with no action other than reaction from the BOCC and the PS Director. ecfr is way behind in providing proper and prompt services to the citizens and so far escambia county has been blessed to not have had an unfortunate event or events.
all of these speculations on this post are unfounded as to the agenda they seem to think the union has. this has been along time coming. the national and state org’s did not drive this.
K jones
specifics will be forthcoming I am sure. there have been multiple reports on wear and this page as to the issues surrounding ecfr
Puppets
shut it down…as long as there was a quorum they could vote. it is against the law and by laws to have a vote on something of this magnitude, anything for that matter, and not make all members aware
there is plenty of fodder in the news for all to chew on rather than just now taking notice because of the high profile events that have occurred. if you care to go back and search the archives of news organizations, there was plenty of info there prior to all this going on. you didn’t care then but you care now? why? because you read the word union and everyone thinks he’s a nice guy. he may be. nice doesn’t work sometimes when the citizens need protecting. sometimes you have to ruffle some feathers to get the chicken to lay the egg
Escambia County allowed the unions to run off a really good man that has done extraordinary things for Escambia County so they could bring in a union puppet. The county has fallen for the ploy.
What you want to bet Rusty Nail, Mr. Union Supporter, would now suddenly be willing to stick around and be public safety director? That was the plan all along.
Oh, and by the way, the fire vote of no confidence was unanimous — of the people that were invited to come vote. Only about 1/3 of the union members were hand selected to come vote, while 2/3 of the union had no say. It would have never passed if it had been an open vote. More Union shenanigans.
I am part of a union, a very large union. Personally not a big fan of union politics in general. That being said. How would all of you feel if you see things that are important, critical, and possibly illegal (according to the letters and both votes) and nothing is done about it. This guy was the boss from what I understand. As I stated before he seemed to have been more worried about keeping his job than dealing with these issues that I’m sure took place over several years. Heather resigned for a reason. The normally people do not resign unless there is some truth to allegations. The only way employees can sometimes voice their true concerns is through a union. I’ve lived through it and it saved our jobs. Hopefully they will give some specifics in the near future to justify his resignation and move in a positive direction. Let’s make sure we support those who put their lives on the line every day regardless if its cops, firemen, or emt’s
This kind of thing has become far too common. Those who do wrong nit-pick and back-stab those who reveal their wrong-doing. Darkness will overcome light if they can. It is a sad sad thing to watch. Good luck, Mr. Weaver. You are a good man.
Just a reminder for everyone feeling bad for ole Weaver here: he knew about everything and he didn’t care. Those of us who worked there know the truth.
.sorry for Mr. Weaver…he did not deserve this…
As an outside observer this is probably just the tip of the iceberg when coupled with WEAR-TV’s story “Department of Health investigating Escambia County EMS after internal complaint”. It appears that there are huge problems in the public safety department, if in fact there is falsification of EMT/EMS certifications.
I have seen this type of hatchet job before. Being a relative newcomer to the area, I do not know Mr. Weaver, or any of the others mentioned in stories about this situation. But, I have seen competent leaders forced out of positions by employees with an agenda before. Has anyone considered that perhaps the national and local unions are the root cause of the discontent within the department? A public service union, like any other union, looks after its’ own interests first. They also need to cause discontent among their members in order to remain at an organization. When a group decides to bring in a union, that group, as individuals loses the right present grievances directly or to interact with management on a one to one basis. That is what the union does, and if they do it poorly or with an agenda, the only remedy becomes to “get rid” of the union. Unfortunately, national labor laws make it almost impossible to remove a union once it is embedded in an organization. Bottom line is that Mr. Weaver may be the victim for not being a puppet and standing up for what is economically feasible for the citizenry he served of Escambia County.
So let me get this right, the same people who lied about certifications, who falsified records and who can’t follow oral or written instructions from the head medical Doctor for Escambia County and who are still running the streets of Escambia County in ambulances voted no confidence in Mr Weaver? What am I missing here?