Update: Fire Marshal Did Not Resign; Rinaldi Was Transferred By Fire Chief

April 9, 2010

renaldi10.jpgEscambia County’s fire marshal did not resign; he was transferred into a new position.

“The county administrator prepared an initial memo for the public safety bureau chief requesting Mr. Rinaldi’s resignation, however the public safety bureau chief was out of town.  When (Fire Chief) Frank Edwards returned, he and the administrator met twice and decided instead that Mr. Rinaldi’s skills could best be used in training,” according to Sonya Daniel, Escambia County’s public information manager.

“As civil servants our job is to assure compliance from citizens and take pride and satisfaction in working with people to resolve, not escalate, issues. This has not been the case with Mr. Rinaldi,” stated  March 29 memo from Interim County Administrator Larry Newsom to Edwards. “I will request a voluntary resignation from Mr. Rinaldi to be effective April 6, 2010, with optional duties until that time.” [Click here to read the full memo.]

readmemo.jpgAn April 8 memo from Edwards states, “Effective, Monday, April 12th, Chief Steve Rinaldi will be reassigned to the position of Training Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Inspector Joe Quinn will be assigned to the position of Acting Fire Marshal until further notice. Please give your full support to Chief Rinaldi and Inspector Quinn in their new positions. Thank you.”

Pictured: Stephen Renaldi. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

6 Responses to “Update: Fire Marshal Did Not Resign; Rinaldi Was Transferred By Fire Chief”

  1. aam on April 12th, 2010 2:14 pm

    Anyone who had to deal with Rinaldi would tell you no one relished pushing their authority around more than he did. Codes was not the issue it was the way he handled every aspect of his job that got you mad.

  2. oh on April 11th, 2010 7:01 pm

    Mr. Rinaldi should get the boot. He had terrible judgment and caused an uproar to 100’s of homeowners in Molino. Glad to see they canned him after his 90 day probation. He failed in his position.
    He was a classic power mad fool.

  3. Yup on April 11th, 2010 7:56 am

    Just not gone far enough!!!

  4. steve on April 10th, 2010 6:21 pm

    as an electrical contractor i was told by mr rinaldi in a meeting several months ago that “common sense” had nothing to do with code enforcement and/or interpritation
    i for one am glad to see him go

  5. Oversight on April 10th, 2010 6:32 am

    This is nothing more than a political forced removal. What’s our county commissioner’s take on this? Newsome needs to go back to roads and bridges because he’s putting the county in a bad light with his personal vendetta against Rinaldi.

  6. walter on April 9th, 2010 9:20 pm

    So he doesn’t work well with the public.

    Doesn’t sound like someone to teach others to do so. HUH!!!