A Virginia fire chief has resigned after a heated exchange with the city manager.
Charlottesville Fire Chief Andrew Baxter stepped down from his post Thursday, effective immediately, according to the department. Emily Pelliccia was named interim chief.
"I thank Chief Baxter for his dedicated service to our community," City Manager Tarron Richardson said in a statement. "On behalf of the City, we wish Chief Baxter well in his future endeavors. The City will immediately start a national recruitment effort for our next Chief and I am grateful that Emily Pelliccia will serve in this interim capacity. "
In his resignation letter, Baxter cited conflicts with Richardson as the reason for his departure, according to The Daily Progress.
“In the year since your appointment as city manager, I have come to understand that we do not share the same vision for the Charlottesville Fire Department or of the leadership of the city government,” Baxter wrote in his resignation letter. “I have faithfully served the Charlottesville community in this position since 2015. Despite leaving this formal leadership role with the city, I will continue to be active in this, my community.”
Over the past months, Richardson has clashed with Baxter, as well as Charlottesville firefighter and union president Greg Wright, over budget and staffing issues. In a March email, Baxter pointed to Richardson's management style as the reason behind the resignation of several city officials, according to The Daily Progress.
“I believe in my heart that it (is) this specific type of behavior that has led to a steady loss of experienced leaders since Richardson’s arrival last May,” Baxter wrote. “(A)nd, if left unchecked, will ultimately drive our City government toward a state of mediocrity never before encountered in this caring, dynamic resource-rich community.”
Richardson was embroiled in a contentious email exchange with Wright in March, as well. In that exchange, called Richardson "willfully ignorant" to the staffing and deployment issues firefighters currently face, and he questioned the city official's understanding of the budget process, The Daily Progress reported in March.
In response, Richardson challenged Wright's own qualifications concerning city budget issues.
“You are a firefighter who oversees a limited number of employees on a daily basis. Your educational achievements and certifications, as well as your limited work experience as a supervisor will never be a match to any of my qualifications or credentials,” Richardson, who has a doctorate degree, wrote, according to the Progress. “So, let’s be clear about who is ignorant and overwhelmingly shallow as a professional in the field of public administration.”
“Then, one day we can have an intelligent conversation about budgets and personnel management in local government,” he added.
While he called his language toward Richardson "direct," Wright told the Progress in an interview in March that he stood behind the content of his message and that the department's staffing issues have had an effect on morale. However, he was says he was "taken aback" by the city manager's reply.
“We’re a highly educated group of employees who have the training and advanced certificates that allow us to administer drugs in emergency settings, to perform advanced cardiac care procedures and operate a million-dollar ladder truck in an emergency situation," Wright told the Progress. "We clearly are not illiterate or uneducated. He was willing to put his response in black-and-white and share it. I can’t imagine what he’s saying when there’s no record of it.”
In a statement released Thursday, Charlottesville's firefighters union thanked Baxter for his service.
“It is not often that rank and file firefighters, associations and fire chiefs have the positive working relationship that were present under Chief Baxter’s watch, his leadership will be missed," the union stated.
