Fire Chief takes job as an Assistant

Some posts in the Journal being thrown around concern the old "double dipping" aspect of a public service job while others point out Botts is moving from one job to another eliminating the double-dip concept. Other comments relate to Botts getting out while he can before the city blame game comes down on him for the reduction of fire personnel. Still other comments relate to simply going from a less desirable community like Middletown to a more professional, more upscale community like Mason. Some question why he gave up a chief's position in Middletown for an assistant chief's job in Mason. The Mason assist chief probably pays more I would imagine, and the obvious "who wouldn't want to live and work in a more posh area" thinking is mentioned. Makes sense.

Can't blame him can we? The city is now treating the fire department as the undesirable, unwanted ugly step child with the other city departments not effected apparently. The city will find out they made a bad mistake in gutting the fire service capability when a major fire or medical situation rears their ugly head and lawsuits start rolling in to Ole Leslie Landen's office as the city gets ready to go to court. Their choice to roll the dice. As is the case with much of the activity in this town, it is a matter of time before the city (let's call the chip the Titanic Cluster) hits the iceberg and Captain Adkins, his crew of council members and drinkers of the kool-aid go down with the ship. The sooner that happens, the sooner we can start new course damage control in the city. (with the proper people, of course)

The new fire chief selection??? Let's see, who is a friend of city hall. Who needs a job. Who is the least qualified. Who could mess up everything they touch.......there you go, the criteria for the next chief.

With all due respect, all public servants are in the loop with one another and know who is going where, who wants to go where, and helps them get there. Doug Adkins helped place Botts in Mason. You think anyone in Mason wasn't aware Botts was interviewing and it would not get to Adkins? All public servant jobs list the candiates publically for interviews. Everyone in city hall knew he was being interviewed.

Of course he would take the job. He gets overtime, more pay than what he had in salary, less hassle, and a few are acting like he bailed because of negotiations. This was as much a no brainer as the school levy passing when the performance was expected to be pathetic. Its the Middletown way, its the state OPER way.

Mason actually is a city that has fires....even greater than Middletown's 1%. Most fire fighters enjoy putting out fires, not spinning fire runs to the Atrium as drama and daily theater.

Next.      

Yep, the old "I'm the new boss and it's my way or the highway" style of management followed by a "leave if you don't like it" finish. Perhaps the most popular scenario used by new managers when they start running the show. What a great concept for getting the cooperation of the subordinates. No wonder the workplace environment has gone down the toilet in the last 3 decades with the divide between boss and worker widening as time goes by. Loyalty....gone. Trust.....gone. Hope.....gone, in many ways.

Knowing the traits of Adkins, does he want to "look at things differently" or does he just want to hard a-- the troops?    

swohio75 wrote: Adkins wants to fundamentally change the model of how the FD operates.  If Botts can't at least have an open mind or rallying his troops, he could move on.

Change is good SOMETIMES, but change for the sake of change just to mark one's territory may come with a price. Adkins needs to be careful on his plans to change the fire department. A critical category is manning and outside cooperative help from other communities while attempting to save money. Fine and dandy as long as the response times are adequate enough to consistently yield efficient service as to the medical conditions of those helped. As soon as the response times become too long, either through a lack of proper manpower or too long due to the distance and availability of partnership communities, and those in need start dying, there will be a price to be paid, either with a lawsuit or one of a lesser nature. Again, his changes may result in a rolling of the dice as to the severity of the consequences and, perhaps, risking the city to litigation. We shall see.