Polk Fire battalion chief demoted to captain. Records show details of investigation

A former Polk County Fire and Rescue battalion chief was demoted to a captain and reinstated with two years of probation over timecards he submitted for his crew of first responders on a disaster recovery response, county records show.

In the records released on Tuesday to The Ledger, they show former Battalion Chief Charlie True was demoted to a captain position in the agency and will earn less than a battalion chief. Further, he will have to avoid any disciplinary issues for the next two years as part of a performance improvement probation.

Many county residents who knew of True’s situation had taken to Facebook to drum up support for him getting his job back.

The personnel matter also prompted County Commission Chairman Bill Braswell to seek support from his colleagues on the board to go around the county manager for an outside contract for an audit of the fire and rescue agency. Braswell told the commissioners at last month’s regular meeting that for years he’s been inundated with emails about problems with the agency’s management.

Commissioner George Lindsey was the only one who did not support the audit. Lindsey told a reporter by text on Friday that he did not agree with the board chairman soliciting a consultant and the lack of a process for gaining proposals for the contractor’s work.

“Commissioners are policy makers .... manager is the administrator of policy,” Lindsey said. “Soliciting RFP is an administrative function. Having a consultant answer to the chairman circumvents the manager.”

At first, True was dismissed. But the firefighters union filed a grievance to get True his job back and to get the wages they felt were owed to all 10 firefighters who were deployed to Levy County in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia in late August.

“The case is closed,” said Jon Hall, vice president of the International Association of Firefighters Union Local 3531 in Winter Haven by phone on Friday. He added that True could be watched more closely for any disciplinary issues and any potential pay raises would be retroactive and unpaid until the probation is lifted.

He would not disclose publicly why True accepted the county’s offer.

The issues for True started over a Levy County deployment for disaster recovery for 10 days last year on the day after the Aug. 30 landfall of Idalia in Florida's Big Bend area. 

Right before four county fire and rescue trucks left Polk County with True and five other firefighters onboard, he was told his crew was to work only 12-hour shifts for the 10 days they were deployed.

But when they arrived, the crews assisted in the hurricane cleanup during 24-hour shifts from a base camp similar to the setup at most Polk County fire stations, which are equipped with sleeping quarters and kitchens to accommodate county fire rescue personnel on their normal 24 shifts.

The firefighters were deployed with Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and many of them drove separately in their patrol cars in a convoy of that agency’s support vehicles. The Sheriff’s Office deputies normally work in 12-hour shifts.

“My understanding is they all, for the most part, if they had their own vehicle, they brought their own vehicle,” Hall said.

“Where our guys brought the trucks that were needed ... so you know you couldn't hop in the fire truck and go and get something at home because you forgot something,” he said. “You know that that fire truck had to stay there so that it was available if it was needed.

“That was essentially the whole premise of our argument for getting those guys paid,” Hall said. “And they have been paid since then.”

County documents show that the complaint leading to True’s investigation into wrongdoing was filed by Assistant Fire Chief Ben Cassista on Oct. 25, and the next day Deputy County Manager Joe Halman ordered an administrative investigation into the allegations.

The complaint was also against the leader of the second crew that was led by Battalion Chief Evan Towns and included three other men and women. Nothing was ever put in writing about how the teams were to be deployed, nor was there a policy in place for such deployments.

According to Hall, Towns was not disciplined because the agency could not determine who would have told him to follow a 12-hour shift on the second crew’s deployment on Sept. 8.

“So there were some differences and essentially that's why they said, ‘hey, we can't do anything to this guy because nobody told him,’” Hall said.

A report by professional standards was later produced. It said Cassista testified that Halman had called him prior to the deployment and told him to tell True the shifts were to be 12 hours. He then relayed the message verbally via a phone call to True.

Further, when the PCFR crew met at the Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Command, Fire Chief Hezedean Smith and Assistant Chief Rick Parnell also gave True the message the crews were to work 12-hour days.

Historically, the PCFR agency had only assigned three fire and rescue personnel to go on hurricane relief missions, but Cassista said the first crew went with six to accommodate 12-hour shifts with two three-man teams.

In the report, Parnell told investigators that he had told True “... if circumstances required any of the members needed to provide additional support of services outside of their assigned 12-hour shift, they were to document the time and actions and they would be compensated for their time.”

He said this was because they realized there was a possibility of unforeseen events that would require members to work additional hours. He said it was not intended to give them a "green light to work whatever schedule they wanted.”

Several of the crew members were also interviewed by professional standards investigators and most said they knew the shifts were to be 12 hours among two groups, but once they got to Levy County, they all pitched in as needed.

True told the investigators that he had asked if the Idalia deployment would be the same as the Hurricane Ian deployment that involved 24-hour shifts for the crews, and Parnell told True to document hours worked and they would be paid.

Because of the areas the fire and rescue crews had to cover in support of the sheriff’s deputies, it became impossible to support the law enforcement agency as originally planned because some men went in fire or rescue vehicles with deputies on emergency calls across Levy County while other deputies needed their attention at the base camp, True said.

The original two-crew deployment plan broke down because of this. And despite sending photos of his crew's work back to Polk County, he said he had not explained to his commanders the reality on the ground.

Activity logs included in the investigative report showed the crews worked from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m.

The union has moved on in regard to the True personnel matter, Hall said. Next things on the fire and rescue agency's plate will be spring contract negotiations and the agency audit. The union leaders and some rank-and-file members are expected to be giving statements to the auditors with Tallahassee-based law firm Allen, Norton and Blue.

Paul Nutcher can be reached at PNutcher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Fire battalion chief was demoted to captain. Records show details