1. How to Lose your Job! (Reminders for experienced Chiefs)
Dan Petersen, Fire Chief
Unified Fire Authority, Salt Lake |

2. Unified Fire Authority
14 Municipalities
414,000 Population
488 FT Employees (433 Sworn)
194 Part Time / Seasonal Staff
23 Fire Stations
17 Mayors / Councilman
12 Months notice to separate

3. Salt Lake County Fire…1921 to 2004
Struggling as a County Department
Chief reported to the Public Works Director
New Cites forming and creating their own Fire Departments
Internal discussion on forming a Fire Authority
Firefighter who was also an elected member of the Salt Lake County Council began working the problem
Unified Fire Authority was born in 2004
Operating as an independent governing body
Shifting power from County to Cities

4. Good intentions…maybe
FF / Salt Lake County Councilman becomes Fire Chief
12 years on - No command experience (Captain/PIO)
Fire Chief / Politician
Perceived power for the organization
New funding from the County
Municipalities intimidated
Neighboring Fire Departments felt threatened
Formed an Association to combat the UFA

5. Drifting off course County Councilman First … Fire Chief Second
Deputy Chief left to run the department
Friends appointed as AC’s - BC’s – Those who helped his campaign
Little to no transparency
Three page budget
Board Policies signed by Chief – Violation of Homeland Security
Hiring and promotional process compromised
Travel junkets – Baseball spring training / Disneyland
Top four staff each taking “Incentive Pay” (34K a year)

6. Changes in 2016 Some Board Members hearing stories
Most are schmoozed by Chief – Big restaurant bills on UFA
Chief was very good at making things sound plausible
UFA employees increasingly frustrated
Can’t get media or Board Members to listen
Form “Task Force” to tell their story / Get rid of Chief
A small weekly paper begins telling the story in July
State of Utah launces an Audit in early August
Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, CFO, CLO gone by late August

7. New Fire Chief Board forms 10 person Ad Hoc Committee
Includes Chief Jeff Johnson
Jeff looks for someone who was dropped on his head as a kid
Talks me into applying for the job
January 2017 … I assume the position
38 year career in smaller departments – last six as Fire Chief

8. How we become Ineffective
You slowly drift off course
You try to make everyone happy
You have weak communication skills
You forget who you work for
You lack openness – keep things closer to the vest
You begin spinning stories
How did I develop this list?
Lots of thought from my personal experiences
Leaning on several mentors, asking them to review my list
Talking with Chiefs who were in trouble
Most of the Chiefs who are let go have contributed something to their termination
This list attempts captures everything I have learned about how you slowly lose as a leader
There are certain situations where very few styles can be successful
Completely dysfunctional Board of Directors or Council
City Manager who is not honest and open… or even evil

9. Becoming Ineffective…
You fear for your job – lose your nerve or your passion
You are in over your head
You don’t stay on the side of the Community
You fail to read the culture or control internal politics
You don’t know what is going on in your organization
You trust your staff too much – little verification
Or you try to do everything

10. Becoming Ineffective
You have unreasonable expectations (too low or too high)
You don’t change what needs changing …
or change what doesn’t
You don’t watch the finances close enough
You don’t have a support network
You make it about you
MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY
One of the Chiefs that was let go from Fire District 3 was a very nice man
Really wanted to have people like him and like what he did
Tried to focus on decisions that people would like
Piles stacked up on his desk.
He began spinning stories – making himself look a little better based on the audience
His actions were described to me as a person rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.
INTERNAL POLITICS
A certain Fire Chief established a secret club in his organization
He invited people from across ranks to meet regularly with him to set the future
He did not inform the Board or all the members of the leadership team
A level of distrust developed from this type of behavior
Eventually, he was let go. When I talked with him he shared this secret group. He told me that the tipping point of his losing his job was when this secrete group started meeting without him.

11. How do you lose your job? Forget who you work for
Fail to manage the money
Fail to manage your ego (or your libido)
You lose your commitment or nerve
Or, you do nothing wrong but…
the Mayor doesn’t like you,
the Union launches against you,
a faction of the community want’s someone else …

12. Being a Fire Chief Can be the best and worst job
You can do everything right and still lose
Just ‘cause you see the train coming doesn’t mean you can stop it
We are on “double secret” probation every day
Don’t give them a reason to dismiss us
Fight for your job – Don’t let the community lose in the battle

13. How to Lose your Job! (Reminders for experienced Chiefs)
Dan Petersen, Fire Chief
Unified Fire Authority, Salt Lake |