Apopka probe of fire chief ‘inconclusive and…essentially moot’

Sep. 13--Apopka's internal administrative investigation of retired fire chief Chuck Carnesale and other alleged misconduct in the Fire Department concluded with findings that "are inconclusive and generally moot," according to a packet of documents the city released.

Carnesale, a firefighter with 30 years of service, including the last three as chief, retired Aug. 30 while the probe was ongoing. He declined to meet with investigators.

But in a phone interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Carnesale defended his tenure as chief.

"When I walked into the fire chief's office three years ago, my intention was to prepare the Fire Department for the growth that was coming to Apopka. My heart an soul are part of Apopka. I focused on the safety of our firefighters and improving our relationship with neighboring departments," he said. "I'm not a perfect person. If I made mistakes, that's on me."

Headed by City Attorney Joseph Byrd, the wide-ranging administrative investigation ramped up in May and delved into a slew of allegations, which included Carnesale pressuring employees to sign candidacy petitions, tampering with employment test scores to benefit African-American firefighter applicants and misappropriating funds.

Carnesale declined to discuss most allegations but said his hiring goal as chief "was to make the department more diverse, more representative of the city we served."

But many were determined by Byrd to be "unfounded" with the caveat that Carnesale didn't make himself available to answer questions or explain his actions.

Sean Wylam, who as assistant fire chief alleged he felt pressured by Carnesale to sign candidacy petitions for former city commissioner Suzanne Kidd, was named to succeed Carnesale as chief.

Byrd sent Wylam a letter last month with a link to a website where he could lodge a formal complaint with the Florida Elections Commission.

According to a summary of the investigation, Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson considered replacing Carnesale earlier this year not only because of the allegations raised by firefighters but also because of "certain management decisions by Chief Carnesale that were costly to the city," including poor management of departmental overtime pay.

Carnesale, who became a "student explorer" at the department when he was 13 and later became a full-time firefighter, rose through the ranks to become chief in June 2016.

When city officials began reviewing complaints, some filed anonymously, they uncovered irregularities with National EMS Billing, a company that held a contract to collect bills from patients treated by the Fire Department's emergency medical service. The city has since sued the company, also known as NEB, alleging fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

Carnesale, who served as the department's EMS director from 2006 until he was named chief, "continually endorsed NEB even after concerns were brought to his attention" about the collection company's performance and misrepresented both the company's collection fee and its success rate, Byrd wrote in the 64-page investigative report.

"There can be no doubt that the decision to continue the services of NEB over several years was an egregiously poor management decision for which the full impact upon the City of Apopka might take years to fully realize," Byrd wrote. "However, to date, there is no evidence that Chief Carnesale benefited financially from engaging NEB."

Other allegations accused Carnesale of discriminatory hiring practices, saying he noted a candidate's race with with an asterisk.

"Every witness provided a statement that they either knew at the time or could later determine that the asterisk noted a candidate who was African-American," Byrd wrote. "However, it appears from the sworn statements that the notation was used not to eliminate African-Americans, but to insure the new hires included African-Americans."

Some department staffers were concerned the chief viewed only African-Americans as minorities and not Latinos or Asians as well.

But Byrd concluded Carnesale didn't intentionally discriminate in hiring, describing the chief's actions as "more akin to affirmative action in hiring."

While the city probe focused on alleged violations of city and fire department policies, the city consulted with other authorities, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The agency agreed to review the probe and documents the city collected, but the city hasn't yet forwarded all the materials, FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

Carnesale said last month that he stepped down because he had reached his 30th full-time year with the Fire Department and not because of the probe.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361

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