Fire chief asked to resign over FDIC photos but refuses & puts up Facebook fight
Previously: Rule #1: What happens at FDIC doesn’t stay at FDIC – NM chief & two deputies suspended
Valencia County (NM) Emergency Services Chief Steven Gonzales is not going down without a fight. On Wednesday, County Manager Danny Monette asked for the chief’s resignation because of racy photos that surfaced following the trip last month by Gonzales and two division chiefs to FDIC in Indianapolis. The three were having lunch in uniform when the pictures were taken.
Chief Gonzales, Division Chief Nicholas Moya and Division Chief Casey Davis were placed on leave because of the incident and have since returned to work.
“There were personnel policies broken,” Monette said.
“They have some concerns about the fire department, the direction it might be headed,” Monette said after a closed door meeting with the group on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Monette asked Gonzales to resign, but the chief said no. Now Gonzales tells us he’s trying to rally support on Facebook.
He wouldn’t speak on camera, but Gonzales said in a brief interview he believes the whole situation has been blown out of proportion.
“We were in a bad place, at a bad time,” Gonzales said. “We’ve served our suspensions and apologized.
