ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP has called for Fire Chief Jim Large to be fired immediately.
Branch President Esther Matthews tells me since she spoke to ABC Action News about the results of a city employee survey last week, they've gotten calls from people sharing new stories about the culture within the fire department. And this led them to call for Chief Large to be fired on Wednesday.
"When a mayor is operating in on one stance of integrity, equality, and equity and another and his staff person is operating in a completely different platform that creates conflict and conflict cannot breed leadership or excellence in administration," said Matthews.
As we have previously reported, within that survey, dozens of comments raised concerns about the fire department.
Since that report came out, several city councilmembers have called for Large to step down.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch placed him on paid administrative leave over the weekend. On Monday, the mayor released a video statement that said the city would formally review the claims made in that employee survey.
"Two important points here: Chief Large, like any employee, has the right to respond to these allegations, and he has denied all wrongdoing and any impropriety. Secondly, under my administration, we will address such issues in a direct and transparent way in accordance with our core principle of intentional equity," said Welch.
We have been trying to reach Chief Large for comment, but we haven't heard back.
We stopped by his home on Wednesday, and a family member came out to speak with us.
They told us that Large wasn't home and said neither Large nor the family was offering any statements at this time.
But we have heard from former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who served as the city's leader from 2014-2022.
Speaking to us by phone, Kriseman told us that these allegations have caught him off guard because he says the man he knows doesn't match those survey results.
"That's the hard part to understand. How is it that all of a sudden, these complaints are coming forward when he's been chief for 17 years and a member of the department for 50," he said.
Matthews also told us that Chief Large may have issued a written statement to city leaders in response to these claims, and we have requested that response.
We have also reached out to the city of St. Petersburg to see if they have any further comments on the matter.
In the meantime, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Bassett is leading the department as acting chief while Chief Large is on leave.
