OH Deputy Chief Investigated over Work Hours

A Columbus Division of Fire official is under investigation for how he tallied work time on an internal system the division uses to track staff members.

Deputy Chief Jack Reall, former president of the union that represents firefighters, already has interviewed twice with officials in the city's Department of Public Safety, which opened the investigation Feb. 1.

In a letter to Reall, Douglas A. Sarff, the department's human resources director, asked Reall to produce records that could "demonstrate the use of (his) time" from 2016 through 2018. The letter says "multiple irregularities exist" in Reall's accounting of his work time.

The department opened the investigation after an anonymous letter signed "The Worm" surfaced, accusing Reall of abusing the system.

The investigation is focused on how Reall classified his time on duty in the division's staffing system, Telestaff. The division uses that software to determine where it has vacancies or excess staff on a given day so that personnel can be redistributed throughout the city.

Reall marked himself as being on "company business vacancy" for 585.5 hours from 2016 through 2018, according to documents provided to The Dispatch in response to a public records request. The next closest accumulation of company business vacancies over that period among the division's deputy chiefs was 380 hours.

The division does not have a written definition of that designation, but it generally has been used as a catch-all to indicate that the employee is on duty but unavailable for normal work responsibilities.

In September, the division began requiring supervisors to approve company business vacancies and to provide a note explaining the reason for them, according to an email obtained by The Dispatch.

Sarff wrote in his letter to Reall that entries were changed in that system "from another entry to CBV a significant amount of time" and that Reall was "paid redundantly and concurrently by the city of Columbus (and) another agency."

He also asked Reall for proof that he had been deployed or trained with Ohio Task Force One, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio EMA, and that he had been in training at the National Fire Academy.

Reall did not return a call seeking comment. The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67 and city's Department of Public Safety and Division of Fire all declined to comment while the investigation continues.

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