UPDATE: Judge Rules City does not need to reinstate fired fire chief, commission overstepped

UPDATE 9/6: A judge has ruled the City of Davenport does not have to reinstate Lynn Washburn.

Washburn was fired last year and has contested her dismissial. The Davenport Civil Service Commission determined the city was in the wrong to fire her and ordered the city to reinstate her in a leadership position.

In a ruling this week, the judge said the Civil Service Commission overstepped its jurisdiction.

Washburn's attorney says they will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

UPDATE 8/27/18: Terminated Davenport Fire Chief Lynn Washburn was not selected for the Fire Chief position in Ames Iowa.

UPDATE 7/20/18: Terminated Davenport Fire Chief Lynn Washburn was named as a finalist for the Fire Chief position in Ames Iowa.

ORIGINAL: A 125 page document posted to the City of Davenport’s website details the reason why former Davenport Fire Chief Lynn Washburn was fired.

The full document can be found

. The city filed the information with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on March 30, 2018.

UPDATE: According to documents, the City of Davenport says former Fire Chief Lynn Washburn was let go for several things including misplaced prioritization of department needs, inability to work with the union and failure to be consistent in grievance resolutions, among other things.

Washburn filed a complaint against the city on Feb. 18, 2018. In it, she said that she had been harassed by City Administrator Corri Spiegel and wrongfully terminated after filing a complaint against her.

Washburn said she filed the complaint with human resources on July 24, 2017, and was then put on administrative leave an hour later. The former fire chief was fired three days after that.

She was hired in 2011. According to the city’s response to Washburn’s compliant, she exhibited poor judgment and decision making over her six years as fire chief.

The city says it had been working on a voluntary exit negotiation with Washburn since June 2017. According to emails attached to the commission filing, there was an agreement ready to be signed by Washburn and the city on July 21, 2017.

But the city says the following Monday, July 24, Washburn refused to sign the agreement and cleaned out her office. This is the same day Washburn says she filed a complaint with human resources and was notified she was being placed on administrative leave.

The city says Washburn’s complaint was not received by human resources until July 26 because the director was out of the office July 24 and 25.

According to an email notifying Washburn she was placed on leave, the then fire chief had the opportunity to meet with the City Administrator Cori Spiegel on July 27 for a hearing on her continued employment status.

Documents show Washburn responded with the following:

“I understand this decision and support Chief Bickford’s assumption of the Acting Chief role. I will be out of town Thursday and so will be unavailable to meet. I will use personal paid time off to cover this. I understand the consequence of this decision.”

The city says Washburn was attending a Fire Chiefs conference on behalf of the city which they say was a violation of Washburn being place on leave.

The hearing was held on July 27. Washburn was not there. She was let go by the city.

The following are a few reasons the city says led to Washburn’s termination.

-Using public funds on an unapproved office remodel

According to the city, in her first few weeks as Chief, Washburn used public funds to remolded her office. She did this, according to documents, without approval or discussion with then City Administrator Craig Malin. She later repaid some of the costs.

-Misplaced prioritization of department needs

During the Central Fire Station remodel Spiegel and Washburn had disagreements about the best use of the fire department’s budget.

Documents show Washburn wanted to use more than half of the available budget to install a heated driveway and a sunlight filter. Spiegel questioned whether other projects were higher priority like purchasing a new fire truck and relocation of Station #3. But emails between the two show Washburn felt the department’s needs at the time were the sun screen and heated driveway.

One year later, according to information provided by the city, a consulting group concluded six fire engines needed to be replaced and Station #3 needed to be moved to improve response times.

-Misleading union members during 2015 budget talks

In 2015, documents also show Washburn advocated for more management positions and fewer frontline firefighters during the city budget talks at the end of 2015, contrary to city administrator recommendations. Washburn’s plan put 123 firefighters on the front lines. Spiegel’s plan put 126 firefighters on the frontlines through management demotions. Washburn wanted to achieve cuts by leaving already vacant positions open.

The city was reducing the fire department’s part of the city budget. During that time, the firefighter’s union put up signs which read “Fire Truck Closed Today – Call your Alderman.” According to a complaint filed with the Iowa Public Employment relations board by union president Ryan Hanghian, Washburn asked for the union support in opposing the cuts but later asked that the signs be taken down.

-Inability to work with the union

Documents indicated the union filed nine grievances against management regarding collective bargaining in 2016 and 2017 which needed to be mediated by the city administrator and the city’s legal department.

-Excessive hours away from duties

Spiegal considered Washburn’s out-of-office time excessive, according to paperwork. It outlines that over a two year period Washburn was out of the office 266 hours to attend conferences or trainings. Comparatively, the next closest amount of time used in other departments was 144 hours by the IT director and 96 hours by the Chief of Police.

Other areas noted as problematic include favoritism in promotions, inconsistency in grievance resolutions and improper response on a grant questionnaire.