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Fla. fire chief terminated over undisclosed reasons

An official said Mount Dora Fire Chief Stephen Kerkhof because of “incidents happening at the fire department”

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By Roxanne Brown
Daily Commercial

MOUNT DORA, Fla. — After seven years as Mount Dora’s fire chief, Stephen “Skip” Kerkhof was fired for reasons that have not clearly defined to the public.

Robin Hayes, who took the helm as Mount Dora’s manager on Sept. 26, said she made the decision to terminate Kerkhof, effective Dec. 14, because of “incidents happening at the fire department.”

Hayes also confirmed that Kerkhof has not been at the fire department since Nov. 21, when he was placed on administrative pay. Kerkhof is not on “administrative leave,” a status different than “administrative pay,” she said.

Hayes said she is counting on the findings of a complete third-party ‘Performance and Management Audit’ of the fire department she requested and that at a meeting Tuesday night, council members unanimously supported her decisions surrounding Kerkhof’s dismissal.

“Mr. Kerkhof is an ‘at will’ employee and works at my discretion. As an at will employee, I decided to relieve him of his duties,” Hayes said Thursday.

In the past two weeks, Hayes said the city has lost four more employees of the fire department -- one who resigned to pursue another profession and three who retired. She said 22 employees remain.

“The retirements were unplanned but after the employees found out they had enough hours to retire early, all three of them decided it was best for them to do so due to incidents that happened at the fire department,” Hayes said.

Hayes said she requested the audit based on several employee issues and the change in leadership as the city seeks a new chief.

Hayes said the audit will be completed by Fitch and Associates LLC for $29,000 from the city’s surplus fund, and will be piggybacked with a request by the city of Oakland Park for similar services.

She said the audit will also help the Mount Dora Fire Department with its goal of becoming accredited.

“It (audit) will look at the processes that are actually taking place at the fire department. It’s a comprehensive approach that we deemed as a systemic approach. I’m looking at all the operational and organizational deficiencies and/or the positive items that exceed the requirements of the departments. So it’s a pro and a con perspective,” Hayes said.

Hayes said things she’s requesting be reviewed include standard operating procedures, inter-local agreements and other similar issues.

“There are just some things I feel need to be reviewed and they need to be reviewed by professionals,” Hayes said.

The audit will take approximately 60-90 days, she said.

During that time, Hayes said Fitch and Associates, headed by former fire department professionals, will also be sifting through applications from potential candidates who have responded to a Dec. 22 job posting on the city’s website.

“I definitely support this (audit) and think this is what we need to do so we know where we are before we replace the fire chief and any other individuals we bring in as firefighters to the department so that the standards are set and everything is very clear where we are going in the future. This is a public safety issue for our residents,” Councilwoman Cathy Hoescht said.

Mayor Nick Girone said getting “on top of things” when issues are discovered is a positive thing and Councilman Cal Rolfson said he is looking forward to the consultant’s findings and expected recommendations.

“I’m guessing that when Fitch is finished and we get the recommendations, we will see several of what I might call or what’s been called “a-ha moments” where we’ll say, ‘I should have had a V8.’ I’m sure we’ll have several surprises...” Rolfson said. “They will be or may be negative but we’ll be able to deal with them.”

Mount Dora City Clerk Gwen Keogh-Johns said the city’s labor attorney has received a letter from an attorney representing Kerkhof, but would not elaborate on its content.

Kerkhof could not be reached for comment.

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