By John Pacenti
After a year of drama and turmoil surrounding Delray Beach’s previous fire chief, City Manager Terrence Moore failed to discover the replacement he hired had three internal complaints filed against him that were pending when he resigned as chief of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District.
The complaints from the first week of March 2023 centered on a secret affair between Fire Chief Ronald Martin and the fire district's human resources manager.
Among the allegations, staffers said the HR manager was promoted to leadership roles and that resources were expended so the couple could continue their romance on out-of-town business trips.
Moore was made aware of the complaints by Vice Mayor Juli Casale after Moore picked Martin in September.
“The gentleman's personal relationship with the woman is not of concern, but in reading these complaints closely you see that there are accusations of abuse of authority and misuse of taxpayer funds,” Casale said in an Oct. 11 email to Moore.
The Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District did not take action to determine the merits of the complaints because Martin resigned on March 17, 2023, the same day that a district report says officials were to meet with him about the accusations.
“I categorically deny every single one of those allegations,” Martin told The Coastal Star on Oct. 21. The HR manager, Colleen Brooks, who is now Martin’s fiancée, was by his side during the interview but did not comment.
Casale told Moore in emails and at the City Commission’s Oct. 15 meeting that the “shocking” failure to properly vet Martin calls into question the city’s hiring practices.
“If you have somebody who's been employed a long time in a city, they have a record, and we're not even asking for that in the hiring process," Casale said at the meeting without mentioning Martin by name.
“So, we hired an individual, and we're very hopeful that it will turn out to be a great hire, but basically, it will be a matter of luck and not the competency of the process, because the process is flawed,” Casale said.
At the same meeting, Martin was introduced as the new chief.
During his interview with The Coastal Star, Martin said he was unaware of the complaints until the paper asked him about them. They were not brought up when he tendered his resignation or met with the fire district’s attorney and the chairman of its board of commissioners, he said.
Martin said he stepped down because of a cancer scare and that he felt the district could be dissolved in a changing political climate. Martin also spoke about the mental fatigue he experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made a catastrophic hit on Fort Myers Beach a half-year earlier on Sept. 28, 2022.
When asked if he thought the affair was inappropriate, Martin said, “Between two consenting adults? Absolutely not.” He said the romance was a blessing considering the issues he was dealing with at the time.
Martin said that the district was audited and found no financial wrongdoing in attending conferences during the period in question.
He also said that Brooks reported to the director of finance, not him.
Yet one of the complaints said that in the months before Ian struck, “Chief Martin had been elevating Mrs. Brooks status in the organization, changing her scope of duties, and moving her up to the Senior Leadership Team” — adding that “these changes meant she was now reporting directly to Chief Martin.”
Mayor Tom Carney, reached for comment on Oct. 21, said he had not researched the hiring process or Martin’s past. “It would be irresponsible for me to make a comment until I have all of the facts,” the mayor said.
Commissioner Rob Long said he spoke to Moore about the hiring and was told that the complaints were known and that since it was consensual — as opposed to unwanted advances — it did not dissuade the city manager from hiring Martin.
“Terrence said that like he knew about it, and it wasn't something that they that they ignored,” Long said.
The email traffic between Casale, Moore and Delray Beach Human Resources Manager Duane D’Andrea, however, tells a different story — that Delray Beach didn’t know about the complaints when it hired Martin.
Moore announced Martin’s hiring in one of his weekly information letters in September. Casale on Oct. 8 asked Moore in an email if personnel files and professional references were requested. She said a simple Google search would discover that Martin resigned abruptly.
“This seems like a clear red flag,” Casale wrote to Moore.
When she was told by D’Andrea that the city did not request Martin’s personnel file from the Fort Myers Beach fire district, the vice mayor responded, “Wow. That is Shocking.”
Moore was asked on Oct. 22 if he knew of the complaints or not. He didn’t answer but provided a statement:
“During the interview process, I had the opportunity to meet with Chief Martin to discuss his employment history and experience. There is no legitimate reason for an unsubstantiated claim or allegation to affect a prospective employee’s future. Martin has no disciplinary actions in his personnel records which might in any way negatively impact his ability to successfully serve in his new role.”
In coming to Delray Beach, Martin is inheriting a department still reeling from the drama surrounding its former chief, Keith Tomey.
Tomey was fired in May for allowing on-duty firefighters to participate in a charity softball game, taking an engine out of service for hours. A firefighter also got hurt during the game and sought worker’s compensation.
Tomey also accused Moore of sexually harassing him. An independent investigation found the allegation could not be substantiated. Tomey has filed suit against the city, saying he was retaliated against for making the complaint against Moore.
Martin worked for the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, in various capacities, since 1992. After his resignation, he took a job with Lee County and then as the chief of fire safety for the Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal.
In the email exchanges with Moore and D’Andrea, Casale asked why they felt Martin’s file was “clean” and that the allegations were “unsubstantiated.”
D’Andrea explained under city policy there was a panel who interviewed Martin, who said he left his position at Fort Myers Beach for personal reasons. Background screening included a review of Martin’s driver’s license record, a physical, a drug test and two personal references, D’Andrea told Casale.
Casale, during the Oct. 15 meeting, said the city should consider hiring a headhunter to find candidates for open positions.
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