Log in
The Gannon Report: Part One

Despite a cancelled workshop, Gannon makes its presence felt in response to City about the Apopka Fire Department

Posted

On January 16th, Gannon Emergency Solutions (GES) delivered its draft report on the state of the Apopka Fire Department to Chief Sean Wylam. A couple of weeks later, it was made public, but only after 145 edit marks were added by the "City and AFD Staff" to the report.

It was a comprehensive 45-page draft report that described the AFD in critical terms such as:

  • Neglecting safety or health programs or attention towards safety and health.
  • Lacking a dedicated and experienced safety professional to ensure compliance with basic safety requirements citywide.

  • According to the information provided, a young, inexperienced department with an average staff tenure of three years.

  • An incomplete and overloaded organizational structure.

  • A lack of Strategic Planning.

  • A lack of accountability

 The Apopka City Council discussed the Gannon report at its February 1st meeting and learned that despite having it for 15 days, Mayor Bryan Nelson had not read it in its entirety. 

"Although I haven't read the whole report, I spent probably four hours with the Chief going over it line by line," said Nelson. "There are a lot of things in the Gannon report... they didn't know that there were protocols on the internet that firefighters have to check off, to be able to qualify, that they've done certain training, and so I'd rather go through it one time and do it right than speed read it and not get all the facts. So, in the next couple of days, we'll get through the whole report in the next couple of days, and we'll have recommendations and what we need to change. But it's interesting if we want to talk about Gannon, and I'll say this... it's interesting that he's willing to help us with this first agreement for $20,000... but now he wants to help us for $150,000 per year for three years. That's what he thinks we need. Sounds out of line, but that's what he thinks we should be spending."

The City announced a February 15th workshop on the Gannon report, with Wylam and GES CEO Christopher Gannon scheduled to give the presentation. But according to the City's website, the workshop was canceled.

And despite their absence, GES made its presence known. In a 27-page rebuttal to the City's 145 edits, it made its position even more clear than in the draft report.

In this three-part series, The Apopka Voice analyzes the GES response to the City and AFD. What does it say about this department and the administration? What can the AFD learn from the report?

On Tuesday, we published a developing story about Gannon's letter to Wylam and a summary of the report.

Today, we look at several of Gannon's responses to comments made in the City's rebuttal and a reference Nelson made to a $150,000 Change Manager position GES recommended.

On pages 5-9 of the response, Gannon answers several of the City and Fire Staff's questions, comments, and edits. Its first response is about emailing the draft and why they did.

Draft Report requested by Wylam

The provision of a draft report was not in the original GES proposal. However, at the closing meeting with AFD Chief Wylam on December 29th, he asked GES for the opportunity to review the draft report because he wanted to avoid inaccuracies. He commented that the report from the State Fire Marshal had numerous inaccuracies, and he wanted to prevent inaccuracies in the GES report.

Gannon is aware of Public Records Request Laws 

The City of Apopka representatives unfairly commented that GES was not aware of Florida Public Records Laws. This is inaccurate. GES accommodated the request of the client and delivered the Draft for Client Review via email, as requested by AFD Chief Wylam.

What is the GES Report based on?

The GES report is based on information obtained throughout the review process and up to one week following the technical review site visit. We asked for an extensive list of information very early in the process, and we had to establish a cut-off time in order to meet project timelines. When you turn in a paper for school, the teacher gives you a due date, and the student must manage their own time to meet that due date, the same for a report like this. For example, although we received the live fire training packet from Chief Knapp two weeks after the site visit, we had already completed most of the report, but that information from Chief Knapp does not change the fact that the live fire program and package need to be revised as discussed in the January 26th, 2023 phone call.

AFD Poorly Organized

On October 19, 2022, GES submitted a request for information to the City of Apopka Fire Department. That information was only partially fulfilled and took much longer to provide than expected. This is a primary indicator of poor organization and management within a fire department. Although we were provided access to the Power DMS file depository, it was cumbersome and difficult to locate the requested information. Instead of providing the information GES requested in an easy-to-use format, GES had to spend extra hours digging through the Power DMS system, downloading documents, sorting them, and sharing them in a separate folder with team members. This took additional time as well as required assistance from the Division Chief of Life Safety to locate specific information GES needed. For example, you cannot query the DMS efficiently for topics or search SOGs for specific terms and references. When we could not locate evidence of an item for the review, it was discussed with the Division Chief of Life Safety and others. We used their verbal response as the official answer or response from the AFD.

Lack of cooperation from the AFD 

It is worth noting that there was a significant lack of cooperation and information by the Training Division. The first individual training record we saw was obtained in the packet of information from the State Fire Marshal’s report on the line of duty death. That was provided to GES through a state public records request.page4image36845440

The state provided significantly more information on the sand trailer incident than the AFD. The only information the Division Chief of Training provided was the live fire packet two weeks after the site review.

The only communication with GES initiated by Chief Wylam during three months of work was one email with a list of advancements sent five weeks after he committed to providing it.

Gannon deniesComments subjective, only negative comments published”

This is inaccurate. The ‘good’ is listed as recognition of recruitment and appointments, and an annex of Chief Wylam’s list of advancements is stated as an attachment to the final report. However, the AFD/Apopka response to the GES report is all negative, with no acknowledgment of the work undertaken or recognition of the unchallenged statements.

While GES does clearly acknowledge the good, the purpose of the review is to highlight any organizational issues that could contribute to health and safety. The report would have reflected that if the AFD had been rated as ‘good’ in every aspect of its organization. GES will repeatedly suggest that the AFD/City of Apopka commission an independent staff survey and questionnaire to affirm/deny the challenges presented in the response to the draft for client review.

With over 70 years of combined experience in the global fire and rescue industry, the GES team has never witnessed or heard of a LODD of this nature occurring on a fire station. GES believes it is fair to say that this is an extremely rare occurrence and has contacted the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to request statistics or opinions to support the statement.

QA Specialist: If the process of hiring the specialist precedes the line of duty death and the GES review, then why was it not filled before January 1, 2023?

GES stands behind the six major issues identified:

Appointment of a Change Manager

In our professional opinion and based on observations, findings, and staff feedback, GES feels that an additional assigned person is needed. The report does not indicate that

The report identifies weaknesses that point to inadequate, ineffective management and a membership that overwhelmingly feel that the AFD would benefit from additional, external help from experienced practitioners with no personal affiliation to the community of Apopka.

GES is regularly asked to present proposals to implement recommendations and has already been asked to do so by two clients this year. Out of respect, Chris Gannon asked Chief Wylam for his opinion on the idea of GES providing change management services. We discussed the role and how remuneration would fit appropriately into the approximate pay scale that a deputy chief would occupy. He stated that he liked the idea.

I respectfully asked for prompt consideration as I was traveling to Thailand to negotiate a long-term contract and made it clear that Apopka was a project I would be prepared to prioritize, delegating the international work personally.

The AFD Fire Chief's salary is almost $160,000. GES is an internationally respected firm of specialists willing to relocate to Apopka, decline lucrative contracts, dedicate three years to reform the organization and provide mentorship for $150,000. There is absolutely no obligation for the city to engage the authors of the report and the same ‘industry-leading subject matter experts’ hired by them to implement its recommendations.

Staff Capability on Driving Changes 

In the opinion of GES, the current staff is incapable of driving changes. As an example, on our site visit on December 28, GES insisted, as a matter of urgency, that the sand trailer be cordoned off and properly secured and stabilized. If it takes outside intervention to identify such a fundamental safety issue, it is difficult to agree with the argument that current leadership is capable of overseeing the more complex cultural and transformational changes needed.

It is the opinion of GES that there are talented, respected officers in the organization who, with guidance, could be assigned project management tasks and could effectively assume deputy fire chief and fire chief positions with three years of mentoring.

AFD  lacks a strategic plan

The AFD does not have a strategic plan. Therefore, GES states a lack of strategic planning.

Lack of Accountability

Accountability in management refers to having obligations to others in your organization. These obligations involve specific actions you complete to fulfill your role as a manager and member of an organization. Relevant AFD examples include the following:

The fire and rescue industry is one of continual risk assessment. If a piece of equipment is to be approved, an inspection/check and a note or policy update would be expected. The fact that none of these measures were considered or taken with the sand trailer illustrates a lack of accountability.

Policy review is not part of any published or unwritten AFD training program. Updates are required to be acknowledged electronically by members, but there is no attempt to confirm member knowledge. A piece of registered mail also needs to be signed for, but there is no requirement to open or read it. In a life safety occupation, it is imperative that members know and understand departmental policy and procedure. Another example of a lack of accountability

A 2020 staff survey was initiated, but the findings were not accepted or actioned according to staff. This is clearly a lack of accountability and a failure to acknowledge concerns.

Management Issues:

Numerous comments made by members during the review revealed a common perception that there are alleged issues with bullying, hazing, and discrimination at the AFD, along with a fear of retribution if concerns are raised.

As the Fire Chief refutes that bullying, hazing, or discrimination exists in any form and the city attorney is unwilling to accept confidential member comments, we are prepared to modify the wording to “inappropriate workplace behaviors.” It is recommended that the city, in conjunction with the membership, seek an independent third-party firm to conduct a staff survey to confirm or disprove the statement.

These behaviors are not uncommon in the fire service, and while GES acknowledges the AFD has put reporting measures in place, members spoke of a fear of retribution if they spoke out over certain behaviors.

 Safety Culture and Organizational Review
Good Comments: GES is unclear as to why Fire Staff are criticizing the items we listed as good. This complements and verifies the areas where the AFD is performing well.

Mission and Vision Statement: Where GES believes the AFD is not fully meeting its mission, and vision statements are in bold below.

Mission Statement: The Apopka Fire Department is a professional and dedicated organization that is constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing demands of the community. Our organization is guided by moral and ethical principles in providing the highest level of quality of services, training and professional development, fiscal responsibility, and direct community interaction and involvement.

The men and women of the Apopka Fire Department are forever committed to successfully responding to and mitigating the challenges of fire and emergency services by providing excellent service in protecting the community and its visitors in the event of any emergency or disaster.

We will accomplish this through the effective use of current techniques in fire suppression, vehicle extrication, hazardous materials mitigation, emergency medical services, fire prevention, public education, and community risk reduction. We exist to care for, protect, and serve our community

Vision Statement: It is the vision of the Apopka Fire Department to provide the best all-hazards, all-risk, emergency response within the community and to establish the standard of care for its citizens, visitors, and stakeholders.

In light of the State Fire Marshall's findings on training, our own findings on training, and the numerous departmental health and safety deficiencies detailed in our report, GES is referring to the AFD published statements and suggesting that it is not fully meeting its own current expectations and standards.

Part two: The AFD's firefighters speak out about their department.

Apopka Fire Department, Apopka, Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson, Gannon Emergency Solutions

Comments

8 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • MamaMia

    Apopka can blame it all on former Mayor Joe Kilsheimer for the fire department going south. We had an excellent fire chief, Lee Bronson, who had about 40 years experience from the bottom upward to the top, but when Kilsheimer took the helm from John Land's leadership, he forced Lee out, and even dirty as could be, tried to take away his health insurance he worked for, as it was a policy of the city, if you had 25 years or more service, the city continued to pay your coverage until you became eligible for Medicare at 65, and Lee had to get a lawyer to fight back Kilsheimer forcing him out, after what I had heard was, that he told Lee that he had a job with the city as long as he wanted it. Just had to mess with things that was working, for change sake. Yes, blame Mayor K!

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • SusanBeth

    Mama Mia continues to blame everyone except those in current leadership. Too bad he/she doesn’t publish these ridiculous comments up under their own name. I still believe Mama Mia is someone within Nelson’s close circle.

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • MelissaW

    Susan, I agree with you. I always had a feeling that this person is a Nelson plant. The way they talk about the commissioners who disagree with Nelson is a giveaway.

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • JimNisbet

    Interesting read. Clearly AFD needs some help. However, the more I read about Gannon, the more I feel like I'm getting a sales pitch. "Here's our report, you FD is awful. But for the low low price of 150K a year for 3 years, we will GIVE YOU ADVICE on how to fix it!" I'm sure three years later they will need another five years at 200K per year.

    Gannon really has no credibility after this statement.

    "Had GES known that every statement and professional opinion given would be subject to legal scrutiny after a draft report was provided to the client, we would have involved legal counsel and added that cost from the outset."

    We need real, legitimate help. Gannon is appearing to become more and more of a fraud, base don what I'm reading. What was the states report/results/recommendations?

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • MamaMia

    Yeah, let's talk about Apopka.....yesterday my husband, two dogs, and I, went through a drive- thru fast food, and I told my husband to pull into the Orange Co. Park, the one next to the Kit Land Nelson Park, and we would share some food with our dogs. As we were leaving, I spotted two full boxes of donated food, that appeared to be donated from Publix, which were various bakery goods, such as cookies, bread, and other sweets. There was no one around in the park, but here is what bothers me.....this perishable food was left in the hot sun, and was sitting on the ground, on the grass. If this was intended for the homeless and hungry, as I am certain that was for who it was intended.....why leave it sitting on the ground for the ants? How degrading! Couldn't you people have at least sat it somewhere other than on the ground, for the ants to swarm? Also, in the winter, I have seen the churches leave winter coats just wrapped around telephone poles for the homeless. Can't we as Apopkans do better? To me, that is degrading to a human being.

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • MamaMia

    Back when I worked in restaurants, my workplace knew better than to even sit a box of gallon can sized veggies on the floor in the pantry, because we would get a health violation for that, if we had of done that, and that was unopened cans of veggies in the box they were packed in from the supplier! For the homeless in the park though, oh just sit it on the ground, for the ants.

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • MamaMia

    Commissioner Nesta, I am reviewing the last council meeting. When you all were discussing the federal grant money to replace the asbestos pipe at AHS west gate to Maine St. you suggested putting in sidewalks on both sides, where they will be doing the work, but where they are going to be doing the work, there are already sidewalks along there on both sides.

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this

  • MamaMia

    Commissioner Nesta, I am a fan of the little free libraries around Apopka, but have these books been censored by the DeSantis library police? We don't want the wrath of the governor coming down on Apopka! They may learn something, or see something the gov isn't happy about....LOL

    Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this