GLOVERSVILLE - City Fire Chief Douglas Edwards, who is battling brain cancer, will take an extended leave until September, but it's unclear how his duties will be completed at the department.
Edwards informed city officials he would be using three weeks of vacation time and three weeks of sick time until mid-September. Edwards said he is undergoing several cancer treatments, and he needs to devote his attention to his own health.
"The department was my life forever," he said. "I've always looked out for them. It's hard because I basically lived there, and now I don't have that. But I'm trying to put some priority on myself."
Without a person appointed to serve as interim chief, Edwards said, he is concerned that his work will not be completed when he is gone. Weeks ago, the city had appointed Battalion Chief Beth Whitman-Putnam as interim chief, but it withdrew the appointment after it became clear that Edwards was still spending a large amount of time doing his work at the department.
Whitman-Putnam said she also is concerned about Edwards' work being completed. She said there are duties at the department that can be performed only by the chief.
"The battalion chiefs have their duties, but [the chief's] duties are something entirely different," she said. "There is great concern. Unfortunately, we had a system in place but
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[city officials] opted to do away with that."
When they withdrew Whitman-Putnam's interim chief status and extra pay, city officials said they simply could not afford to pay two people to do one job. Whitman-Putnam received approximately $4,500 for about three and a half weeks of work as chief.
That was on top of her regular salary of about $26 an hour. City officials said at the same time, Edwards was working upward of 50 hours a week, and they could not afford to keep Whitman-Putnam on as interim chief.
Now, though, without an interim chief and with Edwards absent, Mayor Dayton King said he will be doing much of the administrative work that is crucial to the running of the Fire Department. He added he would like to see the battalion chiefs in the department "step up" and contribute to getting Edwards' work done, without any extra pay.
"We all need to pitch in," he said. "All I am asking is for the battalion chiefs, some of whom have worked with [Edwards] for 20 years, to step up and, without extra pay, pitch in."
King said he will sign payroll orders and will ask that administrative approvals or decisions in the department be forwarded to him.
Paying someone the chief's wage while at the same time paying the chief himself and the interim chief's regular pay is just too steep a price, he said.
"I'll do what needs to be done in the chief's absence," he said. "With the city in the financial mess it is, how can we afford to pay [for an interim chief]?"
King added he is happy Edwards is taking time off to focus on himself and his family.
He said he plans to spend a 24-hour shift at the fire station, observing the firefighters in their daily duties, to better learn about the functioning of the department.
Second Ward Councilman John Castiglione said he sees no problem having King oversee the chief's duties instead of paying for an interim chief.
"There is a financial strain taking over here," he said. "We have battalion chiefs and captains on duty over there who will take care of the fire end of things. The mayor is the chief executive officer of the city, and ultimately, he's in charge of and responsible for every department in the city."
Kayleigh Karutis covers Gloversville news. She can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com.