Plympton-Wyoming council is changing course.
A month after it turned down a request from the fire executive board to start looking for a new fire chief, it’s now given the green light to begin the search.
Steve Clemens resigned from the post in October after taking a leave of absence from the job. Clemens had been on the job three years when he took leave after the outcry surrounding the firing of three senior officers. The town and lawyers for the three are still discussing the dismissals, which the firefighters say were not justified.
Municipalities don’t discuss personnel issues, but minutes from an in camera meeting show the fire executive committee sent a request to council in November asking to begin the search for a new chief.
That request, according to the minutes, was turned down and the issue sent back to the fire executive committee.
It appears council has changed its mind. In a news release about the Dec. 9 council meeting, its reported the request was reconsidered in closed session and the council unanimously agreed to move ahead to fill the position.
Because the discussion was behind closed doors, it is not clear why council decided to go ahead. It’s also not clear when the new chief may be hired.
