By Ryan Mills
Naples Daily News (Florida)
NAPLES, Fla. — If there is one thing Naples Fire Chief Jim McEvoy is getting good at, it’s resigning.
Actually leaving the department he’s served for nearly a quarter of a century, not so much.
On Friday, for the second time in a year, McEvoy, 55, submitted his resignation to Naples City Manager Bill Moss. He previously submitted his resignation last April, but decided two months later to temporarily forgo retirement.
“I’m going to keep doing it until I get it right,” McEvoy said jokingly.
His last day on the job is slated for June 12, the day before he was scheduled to leave for vacation. McEvoy said he is leaving his estimated $110,000-a-year job for personal reasons, not for business or political reasons.
He said he plans to keep playing with his Irish band, “West of Galway,” which plays weekly Tuesday night gigs at Fitzgerald’s Irish Pub in Bonita Springs.
“It’s just a good time for me to retire and spend some time with my family, and an occasional gig in a pub,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy, who is originally from Boston, started working as a firefighter/EMT in Naples on April 8, 1985. After working as a fire inspector, fire lieutenant, fire training officer, battalion chief and deputy chief, McEvoy was named the city’s top firefighter in 2001.
He took the reins from Sheldon Reed.
“The city has been extremely good to me,” McEvoy said. “I’ve enjoyed every day of the 24 years that I’ve worked here. Every day I pin that badge on my uniform, I do it with a smile on my face.”
In a letter to Mayor Bill Barnett and the City Council, Moss called McEvoy a great asset to the community and to the department. He said that for the last 24 years, McEvoy has lived a life in which his response could be needed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Luckily I was able to talk him back to coming to work for another year or so,” Moss said. “I’m really glad he made that decision. I also support his decision to retire.”
Copyright 2009 Collier County Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved