THE LONGVIEW, TEXAS, CITY MANAGER HAS PLACED Fire Chief Michael Pruitt on administrative leave and asked him to resign. If Chief Pruitt chooses not to resign, the city manager David Willard says that he will press for his termination at the city council’s next meeting on Thursday.
Chief Pruitt (News-Journal file photo)
The announcement came in the form of a press release Friday that said in part:
“I regret to announce that this morning I asked Chief Pruitt to resign. At this time, it is now my recommendation for council to consider termination. This is a very difficult decision and one that I do with great contemplation. It should be noted this is not the result of any single incident. I have concerns about leadership within the department affecting employee morale and impacting the department’s service to the community.”
Pruitt has been experiencing a continued degradation of respect and working relations with the department’s 150+ firefighters and it came to a head three weeks ago when they presented the mayor with a formal complaint. The base of the problem is a lack of training and failure to exhibit interpersonal skills or generate respect from the uniformed force.
The Longview News-Journal has the story that details the grievances along with some other problems of Pruitt’s HERE.
Pruitt was hired in November, 2007, after serving 30 years with the Dallas Fire Department. Five months later he told the News-Journal in an interview that he had “developed a record of leadership success.”
Longview Fire Department WEBSITE.
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