ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Chief James Large has been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, Mayor Ken Welch's office confirmed Monday.
This was done "after numerous conversations and feedback received from multiple individuals, along with the allegations made and information received in the Employee Climate Survey, as well as other information received," a statement from Welch's office said.
The survey of about 1600 city employees allowed for anonymous comments to be submitted, among them an allegation that Large made frequent sexist and racist remarks while at the station, according to the documents obtained by 10 Tampa Bay.
10 Tampa Bay talked with Large outside his St. Pete home Monday, Large declined a request for an interview, but called the accusations "false" and said that they would be proven so in time.
"I understand there will be more questions revolving around this action, but at this time, this is a personnel matter. It is important to underscore our executive team members are held to the highest standards and the administration did not take this decision lightly," Mayor Welch said in a pre-recorded video statement Monday.
While his office won't comment further during the review, at least one city councilmember is calling for Large to be replaced.
In a post on X last week, City Councilmember Richie Floyd said "Our Fire Rescue employees are crucial to our city. It's clear after hearing from them that they are not being treated with the respect they deserve, and the issues go beyond what's been reported so far."
"I'm grateful for Chief Large's faithful service to our city, but nothing is more important than dignity on the job. It's for this reason that I believe it's time for a change in leadership," he added.
One person who's suprised by the allegations is former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who spoke in defense of Large to 10 Tampa Bay Monday. "He's been chief now for 17 years, you think if the man was racist or misogynistic that a long time ago that we would have known about that," Kriseman added. "It just strikes me a strange that all the sudden these allegations are coming out, when for my 8 years I didn't hear them."
Kriseman says Large was on-board in working to make the department more diverse, after in 2014, Kriseman's transition team noted that the department was lacking diverse leader. “He was absolutely open to taking steps to try and increase diversity to get more men and women of color in the department and in leadership."
The ex-mayor adds, during his 8 years in office, he doesn't recall a time when anyone raised concerns about the chief's conduct or behavior.
As of now, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Bassett will serve as acting fire chief while Large is on administrative leave.