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Verne Riggall

Zephyrhills names new fire chief

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The Zephyrhills City Council appointed a new fire chief during a special meeting on Aug. 16.

It was the fourth new fire chief within four years.

Brian Swartout has more than 32 years of fire service experience, and most recently served as Division Fire Chief for the Seminole Tribe Fire/Rescue in Broward County.

As division fire chief with the Seminole Tribe, Swartout supervised a staff of 104.  He was also responsible for fleet management, capital projects, new purchases, and rehabilitation of apparatus and equipment maintenance.

New Fire Chief Brian Swartout addresses the Zephyrhills City Council on Aug. 16. He is the city’s fourth fire chief over a four-year period. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photos)
New Fire Chief Brian Swartout addresses the Zephyrhills City Council on Aug. 16. He is the city’s fourth fire chief over a four-year period.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

Swartout previously worked for the Lee County Port Authority, City of Deland Fire/Rescue, Flagler County Fire/Rescue, St. Johns County Fire/Rescue, City of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue and Broward County Crash Fire Rescue.

City Manager Steve Spina said Swartout “definitely stood out” among the three candidates that were interviewed for the post.

With continual turnover at the fire department’s leadership position, city council members indicated they’d like to see a “multiple year” commitment from the new fire chief.

In May, Daniel Spillman resigned from the position after being appointed in Oct. 2014; he replaced Verne Riggall, who also resigned after being under fire for how he had managed the agency from 2012-2014.

In a 2014 memo to the council, Spina addressed budding concerns about the direction of the department under Riggall’s leadership, saying there was a “clear lack of coordination and communication in Zephyrhills Fire Rescue” and “a clear sense of dysfunction and morale issues” that were affecting day-to-day operations.

Swartout, who said he was unaware of the past issues within the department, now oversees the 23-member fire rescue crew that responds to approximately 3,000 calls annually.

The new chief said the first few days on the job have been “a whirlwind” as he becomes familiar with the staff, the city, and other municipal departments.

Swartout said his initial duty is to build relationships with his staff before making any major department-wide decisions.

Zephyrhills Fire Rescue consists of a 23-member crew that responds to approximately 3,000 calls annually. (File Photo)
Zephyrhills Fire Rescue consists of a 23-member crew that responds to approximately 3,000 calls annually.
(File Photo)

“I’m more of the opinion that it’s important for me to sit back and observe, and listen…so I have a better idea of which way I need to go,” Swartout said. “I don’t believe in coming in anywhere and making (immediate) changes — I want to see what’s going on before I address anything.”

He added: “In my mind, I’m here to be supportive with what the guys do, and the message I’m telling them is that, ‘As the new fire chief, I’m here to support you and get you what you need.’”

With discussions already underway for the city’s 2016-2017 budget, Swartout said he likely won’t add much input into the fire department’s general fund, which reached $2.4 million in 2015-2016.

“I think I may be too late to have much of an impact into the next fiscal cycle, but what it does do for me is it does give me an ability to see what the needs are throughout the year and hopefully come back with some ideas or some solutions to issues,” the new fire chief said. “It actually works in my favor — I look at it as a blessing where I have time to learn and then move forward.”

During a council meeting in May, the city manager presented council members with several possible scenarios to consolidate fire services, and reduce operating and equipment costs. However, the council opted to keep the department and its two fire stations intact.

At the time, Spina noted there’s duplication in services with the city and Pasco County Fire Rescue, since the county also responds to all medical and fire calls.

Published August 24, 2016

Zephyrhills poised to name Spillman permanent fire chief

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Four months after being named the interim fire chief, the Zephyrhills City Council is set on Monday to make Daniel Spillman’s job at the head of the city’s fire rescue department permanent.

Spillman took over the department in June when Verne Riggall — under fire for how he had run the agency over a two-year period — resigned before city council members could vote on whether to terminate him.

Spillman interviewed for the permanent position Sept. 22, and competed against Capt. Ralph Velez and former Pasco County fire service officer Stephen Smith for the job, according to city documents. The three made their bids for the job in front of a selection committee that included Zephyrhills city manager Steve Spina, city human resources director Sandra Amerson, former fire captain Scott Winters, and Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce executive director Vonnie Mikkelsen.

Velez has been a captain with the fire department for more than seven years, according to an online social media profile, and also has served on the board of Main Street Zephyrhills Inc. between 2005 and 2011. Velez has spent 24 years total with the Zephyrhills fire department, according to published reports, and graduated from Zephyrhills High School in the early 1980s.

Smith spent six years as a training chief for Pasco County Fire Rescue, according to an online business profile, and retired from that job in 2010. He’s currently a charge paramedic and trainer in Manatee County, and has consulted with and worked as an expert legal witness for EDT Corp., for nearly 25 years.

Spillman joined the Zephyrhills fire department in September 2013 after spending more than a year as a fire chief in Escambia County. He received his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University, and a master’s degree from City University in Bellevue, Washington, according to his resume.

As city manager, Spina has the power to appoint and even remove the chiefs of both the fire and police department, as long as he has a simple majority approval from the city council.

Riggall worked in High Springs as the fire chief the same time now former Zephyrhills city manager Jim Drumm led that city’s administration. Drumm resigned his job in Zephyrhills less than two months before Riggall after realizing he didn’t have the council’s support to continue as city manager.

Before he left, however, Drumm already had considered investigating issues in the fire department under Riggall. Spina continued the investigation after he took over as interim city manager, and said there were problems in how Riggall staffed fire engines and emergency response vehicles. Some of the staffing records also showed there were not enough workers on hand to safely respond to necessary calls, Spina said, and even they didn’t have all the appropriate equipment they would need.

The fire department was suffering from low morale, as well, and Riggall reportedly did not keep regular office hours, Spina’s report at the time said. Instead showing up at non-traditional times so that he could work around his wife’s schedule.

The city council will make the final decision during its regular meeting Oct. 13 at 6 p.m., at Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St.

Zephyrhills ready to name Daniel Spillman interim fire chief

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Verne Riggall never gave the Zephyrhills City Council a chance to fire him.

The embattled fire chief resigned Friday, saying that “baseless attacks of a vocal and aggressive minority of members of the department” have made it impossible for him to do his job.

“There is nothing in this life, or any profession — particularly in the fire service — that is constant,” Riggall wrote in a resignation letter to the council. “Instead, technology and advances in science mean that traditions of the fire service at a subsequent time must be constantly re-evaluated and changed if necessary in light of the present.”

Riggall said he believed he did his best to promote policies within his department that would “safeguard the lives and safety of both firefighters and the citizens of this wonderful city.”

Interim city manager Steve Spina, however, disagreed. In a scathing review of Riggall’s two-year tenure, Spina cited issues that included inadequate staffing of first responder vehicles, low morale among the employes in the fire department, and a strange work schedule Riggall himself maintained, apparently worked around his wife’s schedule.

“Department heads should be available during the day to respond to city council, the public, staff and the city manager, and other department heads,” Spina wrote in a memo to the council. “Most people will not try to contact the chief at 9 p.m., or on weekends.”

Spina put Riggall on paid leave June 2, and prepared a memo recommending the city council fire him and install Daniel Spillman as the assistant fire chief. The city council could do just that at Monday’s meeting.

Riggall was previously the fire chief in High Springs, where he worked closely with then city manager Jim Drumm. When Drumm came to Zephyrhills three years ago, Riggall followed a short time later after city officials there eliminated funding for the fire chief position.

Riggall was named the interim chief in 2011, and permanently earned the job in 2012. Drumm resigned in April after the city council indicated it would not renew his contract.

Zephyrhills council takes aim at fire chief

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Update: Published reports state that Verne Riggall resigned as the Zephyrhills fire chief on Friday, leaving the city council with the job of appointing an interim chief Monday night.

Zephyrhills Fire Chief Verne Riggall followed his former city manager, Jim Drumm, from High Springs. But he might soon be following him out as well.

Steve Spina, who replaced Drumm on an interim basis as Zephyrhills city manager, wants the city council to remove Riggall from his job as the city’s top firefighter. And that decision could come as early as the council’s meeting Monday night.

“There is a clear lack of coordination and communication in Zephyrhills Fire Rescue, and a lack of support and respect for the chief from the personnel I interviewed,” Spina said in a memo to the council. “This chief is not bringing people together in a way that is critical in ensuring the proper response of emergency personnel, and the provision of timely and adequately equipped rescue vehicles. There is a clear sense of dysfunction and morale issues that impacts the day-to-day operations, and I believe hampers the ability to provide top notch fire rescue services.”

Riggall was named the city’s fire chief in 2012, a year after resigning from a similar job in High Springs after finding his position was being eliminated from the city budget. Drumm had already left his job there as city manager, and moved to Zephyrhills. Riggall followed soon after, first stepping in as an interim, and six months later, offered the job permanently.

That vote in April 2013 had everyone patting each other on the back, according to published reports. A group of firefighters had even attended the council meeting, cheering Riggall on. Then council president Kent Compton said Riggall’s credentials were “decades in the making.”

But a lot has changed in a year. Drumm resigned this past April after learning he would not have enough votes on the council to renew his contract. And before he left, Drumm was starting an investigation of Riggall, who some said had lost the confidence of his firefighters.

Many of those issues were spelled out in Spina’s memo. One of the biggest concerns was how Riggall was staffing fire engines and emergency response vehicles. Some of the staffing records showed that there were not enough personnel on hand to safely respond to necessary calls, and even they didn’t have all the appropriate equipment they would need.

If a problem had arose, Riggall said a backup unit or one from Pasco County could help, but relying on such help was problematic, Spina said.

Another issue involved the hours Riggall worked. His shift would sometimes include late nights and weekends — something he reportedly said was to better accommodate his wife’s schedule.

“Department heads should be available during the day to respond to city council, the public, staff and the city manager and other department heads,” Spina wrote. “Most people will not try to contact the chief at 9 p.m., or on weekends.”

Spina said when he asked Riggall how he would correct these issues, he was told that Riggall would “try to improve communications.”

In a second memo to the council ahead of Monday’s meeting, Spina outlined his investigation, which also included interviews with fire union representative Michael Richards, Lt. Kerry Barnett and City Clerk Linda Boan, along with “several other” fire department employees.

Riggall was placed on paid leave June 2.

Spina is asking the city council to fire Riggall, which only requires three of the five council members to agree. If that does happen, Spina has also recommended an interim fire chief: Daniel Spillman.

Spillman, according to Spina, joined the city’s fire department last September after spending more than a year as fire chief with Escambia County. He received his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and a master’s degree from City University in Bellevue, Washington, according to his resume.

Monday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St.