Dayton council accepts resignation of fire lieutenant; members discuss exit interview options

The Dayton City Council voted to accept the resignation of Fire Department Lieutenant Travis Anderson after a brief discussion about whether the council should conduct an exit interview.

Councilmember S2 moved to accept the resignation and S9 seconded; S11 announced an abstention for the record. The motion carried, recorded as four votes in favor and one abstention. During discussion S2 said Anderson's resignation letter noted he would be willing to participate in an exit interview and expressed interest in hearing that feedback. City legal counsel (S4) advised that while the council could listen, an exit interview conducted as a formal council action would be unusual and could raise open-meeting questions; S4 said an exit interview normally occurs with a direct supervisor or in a work session rather than during a formal meeting.

Several members said they were open to meeting informally or individually with Lieutenant Anderson. "If the council is interested in doing that, we'd have to talk about how that would go so the information presented was related to Lieutenant Anderson's employment specifically and not personnel data about other employees," S4 said. S9 told colleagues he had heard from firefighters and residents commending Anderson's service.

The council did not set a formal group exit interview date; members said they would begin with individual conversations and assess whether a formalized session was needed. The resignation was accepted and the council moved on to the next agenda item.

The resignation acceptance is a formal personnel action recorded in the meeting minutes; the city did not announce the lieutenant's replacement during the meeting.