PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A new survey sheds light on the work environment at Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue. This comes after months of allegations of hostility at the department.
The allegations sparked a months-long independent investigation set to be completed later this year.
The local Suncoast Firefighters union presented a climate survey to the commission where union members were asked 15 questions about the work environment created by the fire chief. Many who responded strongly disagreed with how the chief conducts business.
For the last couple of months, a South Florida law firm has been conducting an independent investigation into allegations of a toxic work environment at the department.
“He’ll outline everything as to what he’s done, who he talked to and all of his findings as to if there were any wrongdoings by anyone from the chief on down,” Board Chairman Lou Snelling said.
Many who attended Tuesday night’s commission meeting said this all stems from Fire Chief Jeffrey Davidson’s leadership.
“This chief to me is one of the best chiefs that we’ve had in this department in this department in a long time,” a union member said.
The union submitted a complaint to the board accusing Chief Davidson of fostering unsafe working conditions, medical privacy violations and discrimination among other claims.
Over the course of nine days, 33 union members participated in a survey answering questions about the chief’s transparency and their optimism in the department. Very few answered positively.
Kavaris Service said he recently left the department. He now works with Madeira Beach Fire Rescue.
“He does not value his firefighters, only his personal agenda,” Service said.
“Some of their arguments, they don’t hold water they don’t make sense,” Snelling said.
This was Chairman Snelling’s last meeting on the board. Voters recently elected former Tampa firefighter Jacob Knighton to take his seat.
“I look forward to taking the oath real soon and working with the rest of the board to help grow this district and ensure that the public is served in the best way possible,” Knighton said.
The board said it will meet again on December 9 to discuss the findings of the investigation, which also includes Assistant Fire Chief David Karpinecz who is on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing. Both attended the meeting Tuesday night, but did not want to comment due to the pending investigation.