GA Officials to Wait on Study Before Pursuing Fire Chief Claims

Augusta Commission members say they'll wait to take action regarding Fire Chief Chris James until they receive the results of an external study of the department.

Last week, former EMS Chief James Kelly said he'd been subjected to discrimination and hostility for two years with the department because he is gay. James responded Monday with a denial of several of the claims.

The city won't take action on the complaint because Kelly "is not an employee," Commissioner Marion Williams said.

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Human Resources Director Anita Rookard said Kelly "never filed anything else" about the discrimination while employed, so his claim won't be investigated, according to Williams.

"Head in the sand. Nothing to see here," Commissioner Brandon Garrett said. "That's most of my colleagues' attitudes whenever anything related to Chief James comes up."

Garrett, Williams and Commissioner John Clarke called for an investigation when they received Kelly's letter last week, and Williams said Tuesday that Kelly should move forward with a legal complaint.

Instead, the commission will wait for the study, which is supposed to be in next week, Williams and other commissioners said.

The $25,000 "needs assessment" of the department could be damning, members of Augusta Professional Firefighters Association Local 3357 said.

McGrath Consulting Group, which was hired to conduct the assessment, was contacted by many Augusta firefighters who wished to be interviewed, union President Philip Brigham said.

"They were contacted by a bunch of people and told me that they've never had this many people reach out for interviews," Brigham said.

Kelly, 30, said he spoke out as an "African American male" but was not a union member, but the group immediately rallied behind him.

The union has repeatedly called for James to resign over the past few months, citing severe staffing shortages and resulting overtime that the chief has made mandatory.

The department is currently short around 60 personnel and averages 14 firefighters working overtime each day, Brigham said.

The union is looking forward to restoring morale and staffing levels, he said.

"We want to work closely with the commission to find the best qualified candidate to lead the department to grow back to a sustainable amount of staffing, so we can get away from this mandatory overtime and the burnout of employees," he said.

Williams said his colleagues defended James behind closed doors, saying the commission shouldn't do anything about Kelly "just because somebody got mad and wrote a letter."

Williams also questioned the response James sent Monday.

"Jody Smitherman wrote that letter," Williams said. "You can tell from reading that letter that she wrote that letter for him."

James handpicked Smitherman to serve as the department's attorney, saying a dedicated attorney was needed as the department ramps up its EMS division. Smitherman resigned in April, but under terms of her six months' severance package she can do consulting work for the city until the six months end.

Reached Tuesday, Smitherman said "I don't know what letter you are talking about," but then added she knew James had "sent a letter and a timeline" to the commission.

"The letter came from Chief James," she said. "I don't know who all Chief James conferred with regarding that letter."

James, who joined the Richmond County Fire Department in 1987, would be eligible for his full retirement pension when he turns 55. He is 54 now.

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