Friday, May 19, 2006

Fire chief flap clearer


The public finally may be getting the real, complete story it deserved when Ketchum Fire Chief Greg Schwab "resigned" in an atmosphere of unnecessary mystery with a $100,000 going-away gift.

Now Ketchum City Council member Terry Tracy provides an insider's view of the sham "resignation." City hall was unable to modify what she called the fire chief's demoralizing, poor people skills and management style. Therefore, the council simply forced his resignation with the $100,000 carrot.

"My vote asking former Fire Chief Greg Schwab to resign. . . had nothing to do with anyone other than Greg Schwab," Tracy said from a prepared statement read at the council meeting.

This sort of straightforward explanation should've been made weeks ago. It would've headed off former Mayor Ed Simon, for example, from muddying the story with self-serving insinuations that his successor, Mayor Randy Hall, fired Schwab for political reasons.

Schwab's version -- that he was "pushed out" -- therefore substantially confirms Council member Tracy's version, although Schwab's words were laced with bitterness.

Until now, rumors and gossip have festered and the public effectively has been shut out from facts in a major government decision that was costly and involved the downfall of a major city official in charge of emergency services.

City hall should learn from this. The public's business comes first. Creating a sham story to conceal the truth is deceitful and erodes confidence in city hall's work.




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