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Riviera Beach council questions fire department reorganizing amid ongoing investigation into deputy chief role
Summary
Council members questioned a proposed reorganization of the Riviera Beach Fire Rescue leadership after staff said an ongoing investigation has delayed filling the deputy chief post and that a move to two peer assistant chiefs would require restarting recruitment and selection processes.
Council members raised concerns about proposed changes to the Riviera Beach Fire Rescue leadership structure and how an ongoing personnel investigation affects promotion and recruitment.
City Manager Jonathan Evans explained the question before the council: whether to adopt a lineal command (chief → deputy chief → assistant chief) or a structure with two assistant chiefs at equal parity. Evans said the council must decide the structural preference and cautioned against discussing personnel specifics in public while an investigation is ongoing.
Fire Chief John Curt told the council he could not speak to the investigation’s details but said allegations were “very serious” and needed to be examined before promotions or permanent appointments could proceed. Curt noted the department historically had a chief and deputy chief; the assistant chief position was more recently added. He said the deputy chief had retired and the position had been vacant for more than a year.
Council members asked how a parity model (two assistant chiefs) would affect operations and interoperability with police. Staff replied the two systems are not identical, and the police deputy chief role currently holds more day‑to‑day operational responsibility while the assistant chief focuses more on administrative and finance functions. Evans and staff said that if the council changed the structure to two peer assistant chiefs, recruitment and the promotion process would need to start over because the positions would be of equal rank rather than a hierarchical sequence.
Why it matters: Council members said consistent leadership structures across emergency services are important for interoperability and public trust. Multiple council members pressed staff for consistency and to avoid personnel decisions that could be perceived as influenced by external campaigns or politics.
Provenance: Topic introduction excerpt: "Before we move to the capital improvement, there were, there's a couple of issues I just wanted some quick clarification on from yesterday... The restructure of the fire department." (transcript timestamp ~696–832)
Topic finish excerpt: "The discussion before you is do you agree with the structure of 2 assistant chiefs or the more linear structure that's chief, deputy chief, assistant chief?" (transcript timestamp ~1130–1142)
