St. Johns County says it does not plan to rehire former fire chief in new position despite grievance

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A former St. Johns County fire chief wants to be rehired in another position after he said he was asked to resign, but the county said on Tuesday it is not going to bring him back to the department.

The interim St. Johns County administrator and the president of the fire union spoke with News4JAX to explain why.

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St. Johns County administrators said they don’t usually talk about human resource issues with the public, but said they decided to speak out about former St. Johns County Fire Chief Scott Bullard’s request to be rehired in defense of the reputation of their office.

St. Johns County Interim Administrator Joy Andrews said the county’s employment attorney has advised against rehiring former Bullard to work in another capacity with the department.

Bullard told News4JAX that when Andrews asked him to resign earlier this month, she agreed to let him continue working with fire rescue but in another capacity other than chief but Andrews said that agreement never happened.

“And in fact, I can’t even keep track with all the stories he has put out, I think they are not even consistent with each other,” Andrews said.

Andrews said the only condition she agreed to during Bullard’s departure from the department was his request to be placed on paid leave for 90 days.

That condition is spelled out in Bullard’s resignation letter. Andrews pointed out there’s no mention of an agreement to continue working with the department.

“At this point, I think there are so much misrepresentation of the facts that is out there, that our ability to recruit the right talent to protect our residents is very compromised. So we have to get the facts out so that hopefully somebody who’s out there has a great talent and good credentials would have the facts,” Andrews said.

Bullard came under fire during Hurricane Idalia, when his colleagues expressed concerns about a lack of communication and planning within the fire department before the storm. The union also disagreed with Bullard’s decision to move away from NFPA-approved uniforms and Bullard was criticized for changing the employees’ sick leave policy.

MORE: St. Johns County fire chief resigned amid turmoil, issues over sick leave, uniforms, response to Hurricane Idalia

“For the last week, I‘ve heard him do news interviews and he’s just not telling the truth,” said David Stevens, President of St. Johns County Professional Firefighters.

Stevens said reemploying Bullard would lead to additional problems within St. Johns County Fire Rescue.

“Based on his actions over the last two weeks, I would say it would be a poison within the department. He’s spreading lies everywhere and trying to ruin reputations everywhere,” Stevens said.

Following News4JAX’s interview with Stevens and Andrews, Bullard issued a lengthy statement and claimed the two were targeting him.

Bullard said the county has to give him a job back with SJCFR as part of the collective bargaining agreement, but county officials said the office of fire chief is not protected and it has permanently separated from Bullard.