Council changes rules on firing chief

Electric City quietly changed the rules Tuesday night that govern the process by which it could fire its fire chief.

The vote happened moments after Electric City’s fire chief told people waiting outside city hall during a closed session of the city council that a problem he’d had with the mayor had been ameliorated with a letter of reprimand instead of a dismissal.

The city council passed an ordinance that takes out a reference to state law that imposes an appeals process giving a fired civil service employee 10 days to demand an appeal before a commission.

The new ordinance amends Electric City Municipal Code Section 2.10.060, titled “Fire chief - Removal.” The code now says the fire chief “cannot be removed from office, except as set forth” in Chapter 2.15 of the Electric City Municipal Code. It previously had adopted by reference the Revised Code of Washington 41.08, which lays out the appeal process, among other things.

Fire Chief Mark Payne said the council probably was discussing him in a short session of the council closed under an exemption in the Open Public Meetings act that allows a meeting to be closed to consider the performance of an employee or city official.

When the council reconvened in open session, Payne told them the earlier issue had been resolved as far as he was concerned. He had received a letter April 26 from Nordine explaining he planned disciplinary measures because of an unpermitted training burn the fire department conducted near the golf course, but Payne suspected his trouble had more to do with his outspoken criticism of city street plans.

Tuesday night, he was more intent on seeing that another matter made it on the evening’s agenda: that of a mutual aid agreement for fire fighting between the city and the Colville Tribes. It wasn’t, but council members were quick to add it to the agenda and it was approved later in the meeting.

Before it was, though, on a motion and second by council members Aaron Derr and Birdie Hensley, the new code on handling fire chief dismissals passed with no discussion at all.

The new ordinance, 538-2019, takes effect May 27.