In my memory Hannibal has never been blessed with a city government without problems.
Last week I read the two stories about the fire chief being suspended.
The role of the city council in Hannibal, Yuma, or anywhere is to establish public policy and have oversight of the public policy implementation by the city manager. From the article you wrote I suspect that the disposed chief is correct in his opinion.
The city of Des Peres in mid-St. Louis County, Manchester Road at I-270, merged their fire and police into a department of public safety. This maximizes response time and limits personnel; biggest bang for the lowest taxpayer buck.
To have a fire chief, a deputy fire chief, and assistant fire chief should be construed, as poor management/organization.
Good management begins with employee empowerment and is reflected by a broad span of managers reporting to the fire chief or public safety director.
The documented involvement of the city council members in the fire department is a classic example of misfeasance of office.
If you have a copy of the legislation that created the “fire board,” I would like to review it.
Jack Kretzer
Yuma, Ariz., formerly
of Hannibal
