New Orlando FL Fire Chief: Inclusiveness, Diversity Will be Priorities Firefighters

Incoming Orlando Fire Department Chief Benjamin Barksdale Jr. promised at a ceremony Thursday to make inclusiveness and diversity a priority when he takes the agency’s helm, as it works to move past the resignation of ex-chief Roderick Williams amid sexual misconduct claims earlier this year.

Barksdale, named Wednesday by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer as Orlando’s next fire chief, said he believes a diverse workforce “only makes the department stronger.”

He’ll join the agency Nov. 15.

Currently the fire chief in Prince George’s County, MD, Barksdale comes to Orlando with more than 30 years of firefighting experience. He succeeds Williams, who resigned Feb. 21 following a probe by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, which found he sexually harassed and discriminated against a female assistant chief.

Williams denied the claims against him and has since filed a complaint with the EEOC against the department, claiming he was discriminated against based on his race and ousted against his wishes, WESH- Channel 2 reported.

Dyer said after the ceremony Thursday there was “certainly no racial motivation” behind the departure of Williams, who like the city’s new fire chief is black.

At the ceremony Thursday, Barksdale thanked Dyer and city commissioners for bringing him in from out-of-state for the job, saying he recognized it was a “rare occurrence that the opportunity presents itself for someone to come from outside and be the fire chief in Orlando.”

He said he was drawn to the position because of OFD’s reputation for being a nationally accredited department and its strong relationship with city leaders. Also, warmer weather, he said.

“Look at this facility, the apparatus, the gear that’s provided, the technology,” Barksdale said. “All of that says the city is behind the fire service here.”

Dyer chose Barksdale out of a group of five potential candidates that were selected by the Atlanta-based consulting firm Slavin Management, which the city contracted to perform a nationwide search for its next fire chief.

The company narrowed those five candidates from a pool of about 130 applicants, Dyer said. None of the five were women.

Barksdale’s salary will be $179,848.45.

In his previous role, Barksdale led roughly 2,500 employees, including full-time and volunteer firefighters, who responded to more than 145,000 calls last year. He said the agency employs 150 female firefighters, some of whom hold positions such as battalion chief, executive officer and assistant chief, he said.

“I understand the importance of having women in those roles, as well as coming up through the system, to have a plan so that... we can continue to keep women in leadership positions,” he said.

OFD employs roughly 500 firefighters and responds to an average 60,000 calls per year, spokeswoman Ashley Papagni said.

Since Williams’ resignation, Dyer said the city has focused on creating a more-welcoming culture for women at the department by increasing diversity training and recruitment.

“We feel that it’s important that the... employees of the city represent the diversity of our community, and I think every department in the city of Orlando reflects that, except probably the Orlando Fire Department,” Dyer said at the ceremony Thursday. “It’s largely traditionally been a Caucasian, male service. We want to make sure that the Fire Department also represents the diversity of our community, both in terms of having females and having people of color.”

Barksdale promised to bring that to OFD as chief, saying he intends to work with the city to make OFD a more welcoming place for women and ensuring male firefighters are “aware of their unintended biases that they may have toward women."

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