Firefighters Trying to Oust Chief Meet With City Council

POMONA —  A group of dissident firefighters has launched an intensive campaign against Fire Chief Tom Fee, circulating a petition and meeting privately with City Council members to press for his ouster.

City Administrator Julio Fuentes disclosed Wednesday that the City Council has reached a tentative agreement with Fee to resolve the issue.

Fuentes would not describe the nature of the agreement, nor say whether Fee would resign. Fee could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The City Council met Monday night behind closed doors with Fee and several firefighters who are seeking his ouster. The council discussed the issue again in private Tuesday night, then met briefly with Fee.

Fuentes said the council will meet again Saturday to consider the tentative agreement, which is being worked out by the city attorney and Fee’s attorney.

Fee, 48, has been with the Fire Department for 27 years and was appointed chief in 1988. He served for six months last year in the dual capacity of fire chief and city administrator. While city administrator, he carried out a council decision to fire the police chief, to the dismay of many police officers. Since then, relations between the police and fire departments have been strained.

Half a dozen firefighters, including a battalion chief and the president of the Pomona Fireman’s Assn., met Friday with Fee to discuss their complaints. They also presented him with a petition, said to be signed by more than 50 of the department’s 134 employees, asking Fee to quit. After meeting with Fee, the group met separately with Mayor Donna Smith and Fuentes before carrying its complaints to the council.

The group reportedly objected to Fee’s management style and accused him of favoritism, but Fuentes, council members and the complaining firefighters refused to air the grievances publicly. “We’re trying to conduct all this in a professional manner,” Fuentes said.

Before Monday night’s council meeting, about 20 supporters of the fire chief demonstrated in front of City Hall, wearing toy fire hats and carrying signs urging that Fee be retained. One supporter, Norma Randall, said there are always unhappy employees in any organization in which the manager demands top performance, and she believes the complaints against Fee are merely those of a few disgruntled people.

Another demonstrator, Eloise Rook, said she supports Fee because the Fire Department is well run and responds quickly to emergency calls.