By Stephen Hudak
Orlando Sentinel
APOPKA, Fla. — After another tense session Wednesday, Apopka City Council voted, 3-2, to express “no confidence” in Fire Chief Sean Wylam and to fire City Attorney Michael Rodriguez, measures which are mostly ceremonial because only the mayor has the authority to hire and fire.
Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson said he does not intend to fire either, in a text message to the Orlando Sentinel Thursday morning.
Wylam has been under pressure from the community — and his rank-and-file firefighters — since last summer’s accidental, on-duty death of firefighter Austin Duran, who was crushed under a trailer of sand he was directed to move though he had never been trained to move it.
The votes, proposed by council member Kyle Becker, came near the end of a marathon, eight-hour meeting.
“This is not sustainable, what’s going on in these council chambers every single week,” Becker said of ongoing criticism of the chief’s lack of leadership and poor communication skills. “We’ve talked ad nauseum on this topic. It’s time to hire new leadership in the department.”
About 85% of the city’s unionized firefighters voted “no confidence” in Wylam last month.
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