It was an accepted practice by Clearwater Fire Rescue employees at every level of the organization to use sick leave that was not permitted, according to a report the City of Clearwater released on Tuesday.
- Fallout from investigation has led to 2 resignations
- Final audit: Abuse cost taxpayers more than $93,000
- Mayor: results embarrassing for city
"I think that we all understand that we have to do a better job,” said Mayor George Cretekos. “I'm confident that we're going to be doing that."
Fallout from the investigation has resulted in two resignations at Clearwater Fire Rescue. In March, fire administrative support manager Martin Moran resigned. On Monday, fire deputy chief Steven Strong resigned, one day before the report was released.
Strong was the direct supervisor of logistics manager Stanley Loveday.
According to the report, Strong signed off on nearly four months of Loveday’s pre-filled timesheets. Strong said Loveday was using vacation time, but records show he signed timesheets reflecting sick leave usage.
When asked about that, Strong could not provide an explanation, according to the report.
We were unable to reach Strong or Loveday for comment.
Final numbers less than initially reported
The final audit narrowed down the sick leave abuse to nine firefighters who cost taxpayers a little more than $93,000. That’s less than half the amount of the initial findings of $218,000, released in March, that listed 17 firefighters.
According to the report, investigators learned that some of those employees initially identified had legitimate reasons for being out.
The audit covered the previous five years. Mayor Cretekos called the results embarrassing for the City.
“We admit it was a mistake,” he said. "I think all of us on the city of council, I think the City Manager, even the members of the fire department were embarrassed when this was brought to our attention."
One of the most egregious cases involved lieutenant Paul Capo, who used more than three months of sick time while he moved out of state and got another job as a firefighter in Colorado. In March, Capo said he had his bosses' permission to do that and fulfilled his obligations.
"You can game the system, but it's going to catch up with you,” Cretekos said. “I'm glad it caught up with him."
According to the report, the sick leave practice indicates a failure by Fire Department management and staff to follow established policy. While there may not have been any malicious intent, employees did obtain monetary benefits they would not have otherwise been entitled to.
City unlikely to recover funds paid out
The nine employees that racked up the $93,000 in monetary benefits no longer work for Clearwater Fire Rescue. Cretekos said the City is not likely going to recover any of that money.
"Unfortunately, some of this happened so many years ago that there's no way to recover it,” he said. “We're confident now that everyone knows the rules and how they have to follow them."
Sean Becker, president of the Clearwater Fire Fighters Union, said they’re working with the city to prevent any future issues from happening again.
The report states there’s no evidence that Fire Chief Scott Ehlers was aware of the policy violations occurring. Human resources stated it is imperative that Fire Administration, the lieutenants and the chiefs closely monitor absences for frequency and patterns of potential abuse.
Ehlers has implemented a monthly meeting where his command staff meets and reviews sick leave usage with the chiefs who oversee each shift.