Dennis Reilly, Davis’ assistant fire chief, was fired from the Davis Fire Department last month in part over his “incompatibility in management styles” with Fire Chief Joe Tenney, The Davis Enterprise learned this week.
“I am exercising my option to terminate your at-will employment with the City, pursuant to Section 7(a) of your Employment Agreement,” City Manager Mike Webb wrote in a memo to Reilly titled “Notice of Removal,” dated May 28.
Webb also cited pandemic-induced cutbacks as a reason for dismissing Reilly from his $143,000-a-year position ($182,000 with benefits), noting that “the city is also recommending budget reductions which include the unfunding of the Fire Assistant Chief position as a result of the strain placed on the City’s finances by the COVID-19 emergency. This action is not punitive nor merit based.”
The memo gave June 18 as Reilly’s final day of employment, but he was placed on immediate administrative leave “to allow you the next three weeks to focus on your future plans.”
“The City and I are grateful for your service and wish you the best for your future,” Webb wrote.
The memo blindsided Reilly, according to his attorney, David Graulich, who provided The Enterprise with a copy of the document. Graulich said he and co-counsel Tom Barth are in talks with the city to determine the specific reason for Reilly’s termination and what recourse he has, if any.
“He was astonished. He thought he had been working well with Chief Tenney,” Graulich said Thursday. “He loved his job, and he was planning to have a very, very long career serving the city of Davis.”
Tenney referred comment about Reilly’s termination to Webb, who declined to elaborate due to the confidentiality of personnel matters, though he did confirm Reilly was “not laid off.”
“I can confirm he is no longer in our employment,” Webb said. “The position is an at-will executive management position, and there are reasons stated in (the memo) for the release. I’m not able to provide more depth to the details of that.”
The city hired Reilly as assistant fire chief in October 2018 under former Chief Daryl Arbuthnott, his position the only full-time job added to the city’s workforce that budget year.
He already was a 44-year fire service veteran at the time, having retired as a battalion chief in Cherry Hill, N.J., and later serving as chief of the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District in central Missouri.
Reilly became Davis’ interim fire chief when Arbuthnott left to lead the Vallejo Fire Department in January 2019, and resumed his prior role when the city named Tenney fire chief six months later. Reilly also had applied for the chief’s position.
Signs of something amiss surfaced on Aug. 14, 2019, when, according to Graulich, Reilly received an email from Tenney “that essentially stripped him of his duties and told him to sit in his office and do nothing.”
“That was odd, but he didn’t interpret that to mean his job at risk,” Graulich said. His termination came just as suddenly, and “he just disappeared. No notice was given to the public.”
Webb could not confirm the email, saying “it wouldn’t be something from us” at City Hall. As of Thursday, Reilly’s photo and biography remained posted on the fire department’s website.
Meanwhile, Graulich said he and Barth have requested a series of documents from the city regarding Reilly’s termination, including whether the fire department faces additional personnel cuts beyond the assistant chief post.
“In my view, the people of Davis have a right to know what is happening with the leadership of their fire department,” Graulich said. “During a pandemic, it seems like you would want more senior leadership in place to ensure public health and safety, not less leadership.”
Webb, the city manager, said the upcoming budget freezes funding for eight vacant city positions, two of them within the fire department — assistant chief and a fire inspector. Most others are from the police department budget, he added.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene