A THREE ALARM FIRESTORM: From nepotism to pension and promotion problems, Destin Fire Control District beset by triple trouble

Sparks flew at Destin Fire Station 9 on Wednesday when Commissioner Kim Brown questioned the integrity of Fire Chief Kevin Sasser and the department’s promotional process.

“It’s been eight months since the promotions, but there are some serious flaws in the system,” Brown said during a meeting of the Destin Fire Control District Board of Commissioners. “I’m bringing this here because I feel like I will not get answers or satisfaction in the chief’s office.”

Brown said the major flaw in the process lies in the “chief’s points.” In addition to written test scores, years of service, education and practical test scores, candidates for promotion are judged using 100 “chief’s points,” which are awarded solely at the chief’s discretion.

“I’ve tried to educate myself by talking to people who deal with promotions,” Brown said. “100 chief’s points are just unheard of.”

But Sasser said the current system uses fewer “chief’s points” than the department has in the past. He said he combined two different judging criteria, leadership skill and ability and managerial potential, and called it “chief’s points” because “that’s what all the guys refer to it as.”

“I actually reduced those points to 100,” Sasser said. “They were worth more in the old system.”

But Brown said she thinks the department should be in line with others in the county, which she said typically use about 10 “Chief’s points.” She said subjective scoring shouldn’t be the primary factor when the department has records and scores from a written test, paid for by tax dollars.

Brown said the department spent $1,500 on the test and another $2,000 to $2,500 on overtime costs associated with taking the test. However, she said those with the highest test scores received the fewest “chief’s points.” She also noted that some of the tests were open when they were handed out.

“I feel like it’s a waste of tax dollars because the test didn’t really play into the story,” Brown said.

In an effort to open up the process, Brown said she printed copies of the scoring sheets from the last round of promotions and distributed them to all of the firefighters. The score sheets did reveal that two of the lieutenant candidates with the lowest test scores got the most “chief’s points.” And the captain candidate with the highest test score received the fewest points.

“I think you’re going down a path you don’t want to go down,” Commissioner Rick Moore told Brown during the meeting. “I’m going to tell you one thing: I cannot believe a commissioner would put scores in anybody’s mail box. It’s eight months later, and you’re messing with the morale in this department.”

“I’m messing with morale?” Brown fired back. “Do you know where the morale in this department is?”

Moore said a committee of five, one person from each shift, has already been created to review the promotion process. And the Chief has been empowered to handle promotions. He said it’s inappropriate for individual commissioners to try to dictate what he does.

“Let’s just put a crown on his head and make him king,” Brown countered during the meeting.

She went on to question the objectiveness of scoring in the practical exam. She said several evaluators judged each candidate, and the scores varied greatly.

“17 of the 30 possible scores had a 10 point or more discrepancy, and 9 had a 20 point or more difference,” Brown said. “Clearly there weren’t any guidelines or criteria.”

Sasser said he brought in outside evaluators to assure the fairness of the process. He said his battalion chiefs did score the candidates, but all of their scores combined only counted as much as one of the outside judge’s scores.

“A system can always be tweaked,” Sasser said. “But I think it’s fair. My integrity is definitely in tact.”

Commissioner Tommy Green ended up putting a stop to the discussion during the meeting, saying that union negotiations haven’t been opened up yet. The promotion process is part of the union contract, so any changes to the process must be properly advertised before discussion.

“This is more or less pre-negotiations,” Green said during the meeting. “That’s what we’re looking at here, and I don’t agree with that.”

The department’s labor attorney for the past 25 years, Robert Norton, said he couldn’t say the discussion was a violation of the contract because he wasn’t in attendance. However, he said if a commissioner instructed the chief to handle promotions in a manner that is different that what’s discussed in the contract, it could be a violation.

“It’s certainly wrong for elected officials to get involved in the way things are done under a contract,” Norton said. “If there is ever a contract dispute in the future, the matter goes to the board of commissioners for final resolution. So for one of them to be involved in the process now is premature and could expose the department to litigation.”

Norton went on to say that the department’s promotional process is similar to every other fire and law enforcement union contract in the state. He said he’s negotiated hundreds of contracts, and almost all of them include subjective points handed out by the chief.

“The reason this is done is because the person that’s the smartest is not necessarily the person you want to be in command at a structure fire where lives are at stake and command leadership is essential,” he said.

But Brown said she’s spoken to several departments that do not use “chief’s points.” She said the whole system is too subjective, and some people just can’t get a fair shot.

“We’re known in this county for our good ole boy system,” Brown said. “I am not criticizing those who were promoted. I’m not saying they’re not good at their jobs. I am criticizing a system that is leaving people behind due to petty differences or one that passes a deserving candidate over because they aren’t buddies with those in power. “

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THE COVERAGE CONTINUES

To read about a whistle blower within the fire department, click here.

To read about the fire department's financial worries, click here.