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Oct. 01-- Fire Chief Allen LaCroix returned to work Friday, but with a reprimand in his employment file for his role in the controversy swirling around former Mayoral Chief of Staff Terry Simonson.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett made the announcement at a news conference Friday, the day after Simonson resigned over the incident involving his son's bid to be included in testing to get into the fire academy.
Bartlett said an external committee investigating the matter ruled that "a mistake was made."
The committee's findings concluded that "Chief LaCroix did not go beyond his authority as allowed by the (City) Charter. However, he did go outside the customary practices of communication related to the recruitment process," Bartlett said.
He read a portion of the charter referring to firefighters, stating that the "sworn members of the Fire Department shall, upon the approval and recommendation of the fire chief, be appointed by the mayor."
But when asked if that pertained to the pretesting recruitment process in which no applicant is sworn, Bartlett said he was told it does.
The recruitment process Simonson's son was included in narrows the field of applicants, creating a pool in which cadet selections are made for the next fire academy.
Bartlett said the committee did not want to put its findings in writing.
LaCroix has "expressed his regret for his actions" to Simonson and Simonson's 30-year-old son, Ryan Simonson, as well as to the administration, and "has apologized profusely," Bartlett said.
He said he rescinded LaCroix's administrative leave and returned him to work at 4 p.m. Friday.
LaCroix did not return calls from the Tulsa World.
Simonson and LaCroix were placed on paid administrative leave Monday until an external committee that Bartlett created could investigate the matter.
Bartlett also said that because of Simonson's resignation Thursday, the committee believed that it was unnecessary to probe his role in LaCroix's adding Simonson's son to the testing list or his role in Simonson and his son's gaining unauthorized access to the training facility to practice before a physical ability test.
Bartlett also created an internal committee made up of city employees to review the recruitment testing process.
He said that committee determined that "the process is good and is not flawed." However, he said the committee has identified some efficiencies, and "they will be evaluated."
Bartlett expects to receive the internal committee's findings sometime next week.
"I consider this to bring closure to this situation," he said. "Now Tulsa can and will move forward."
Tulsa Firefighters Local 176 President Dennis Moseby issued a statement saying the union thinks "this controversy demonstrates the need for total transparency at the administrative level to allow for productive discussions about providing the safest and most efficient emergency medical and fire suppression services to the taxpayers in the Tulsa area."
As first reported in the Tulsa World last week, a series of emails indicates that special treatment was given to Simonson's son, who, after failing to secure a testing spot on his own, was placed on the list of people who could test for the firefighter academy.
The emails show that Simonson asked LaCroix if he could find a spot for his son, and LaCroix then ordered that Ryan Simonson be added to the list of candidates, despite resistance from the city's Human Resources Department.
After the testing cycle began, Ryan Simonson and his father gained unauthorized access to the fire training facility to practice just days before the candidates' physical ability test, the emails reveal.
Several emails among Fire Department officials indicate that neither Terry Simonson nor his son had been given authorization to be there and that the applicants had been told the practice period had ended.
Simonson's son withdrew from the firefighter-applicant process last week.
Fire Chief Allen LaCroix's career
1975 -- Hired as a firefighter
1978 -- Fire equipment operator
1980 -- Fire captain
1988 -- Deputy fire marshal
1995 -- Chief of staff
1997 -- Fire marshal
2002 -- Fire chief
2005 -- Fire chief and chief operations officer for then-Mayor Bill LaFortune
2006 -- Fire chief
P.J. Lassek 918-581-8382
