The Rube quits Petersburg, VA for new job – Police chief will replace Rubin
Dennis Rubin makes his resignation official this time
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Petersburg, Virginia Fire Chief Dennis Rubin makes it official this time and has submitted his resignation, writing in a letter to City officials he has “accepted a career opportunity that will allow me the chance to relocate closer to my family”.
The Rube has been in Petersburg for 16 months. You may recall the strange saga in May of this year when TV station WWBT reported, citing unnamed sources, that Rubin “plans to resign”. Three days later, reporter John Adam at The Progress-Index wrote Dennis Rubin says he isn’t going anywhere:
Petersburg Fire Chief Dennis Rubin sharply disputed a story — first reported by NBC Channel 12 on Friday — that he was resigning.
Citing unnamed sources, NBC reported that Rubin, who has been fire chief in Petersburg for almost a year now, was planning on resigning.
Rubin disputed the report, saying it was a “non-story.”
The oddest part of that story is that WWBT-TV didn’t correct or update its story for weeks. Finally, on June 18th the TV station updated the very same post with the following information:
Now, less than two months later Dennis Rubin has announced it’s over in Petersbug and he’s headed elsewhere. In Petersburg, it’s been announced Rubin’s job will be taken over by the police chief. More from John Adam:
The city announced the fire chief’s position will be filled by current Police Chief Kenneth Miller, who will take the title of managing director for public safety. The city said the move will “cut costs while while simultaneously bringing greater coordination between the two public safety departments.”
The fire chief’s position paid $130,000 a year.
With all of this turmoil you have to wonder if there will be a new tell-all book about Rubin’s time in Petersburg. You will recall that Rubin wrote “DC Fire” after his time as fire chief in Washington, DC. The book allowed Rubin to publish blind items about some people he was not fond of in the Nation’s Capital (full disclosure: I was one of those people described in the book, but not named).
Not sure if it’s a comment on his time in Petersburg, but it seemed odd that in his most recent Pennwell book–published earlier this year–the cover shows the insignia for the DC Fire and EMS Department next to his name and not the one for Petersburg. Rubin hasn’t been chief in the District of Columbia for almost eight years.
