11 Investigates questions Pittsburgh mayor about fire chief’s retirement

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s mayor is speaking out for the first time since his embattled fire chief announced his retirement.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones to retire

Veteran Chief Darryl Jones was placed on administrative leave in June amid an investigation into bureau operations.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones placed on administrative leave, sources say

Since announcing his retirement, we’ve heard very little from the administration.

11 Investigates wanted to know what led to the chief’s decision to retire after leading the bureau for 19 years and questioned Mayor Corey O’Connor.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle: What can you tell us? What did your investigation find? Was there troubling information that led to his retirement?

Mayor Corey O’Connor: We sat down, we met, we had a difference of opinion of the future of the bureau, and he’s retiring in a couple of weeks, but I mean served the city well and I won’t say anything bad about Chief Jones. I’ve known him for a very long time, but I think when you’re looking at the future of the department, we just had different goals in mind.

O’Connor, for the first time, explains what led to the retirement of long-time fire chief Darryl Jones.

While the mayor declined to elaborate, sources tell 11 Investigates the new administration had questions about excessive overtime, a lack of accountability and the chief’s overall management style.

Sources say the administration was also upset about a firefighter who was allowed to work without his emergency medical technician certification. He was recently fired.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 11 Investigates Exclusive: Pittsburgh firefighter fired over EMT certification

Jones has not commented on the reasons, only thanking the citizens of Pittsburgh in a social media post.

Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams says the mayor wanted to go in a different direction.

“We all serve at the pleasure of the mayor and I want to make sure that all of our public safety personal are aligned with his vision, and our purposes for this city, and when such incidents come up, or situations come up, where we start losing our confidence, decisions can be made, so this is a result of some of those alignments, nothing specifically wrong, immoral, or illegal, but managerial decisions that need to give the comfort of this mayor to make those decisions. And we uphold that to the highest degree to include myself,” Williams said.

Jones has not been back to the department since he was put on paid administrative leave.

He’s been using vacation and personal time until he retires in mid September.

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