Fire Chief Santa Ana Rejected Praised at Home

Officials in San Mateo County, Northern California, gave Gary W. Schmitz a vote of confidence Tuesday despite his admission that he had lied in applying for the job of Santa Ana fire chief.

Santa Ana officials had announced Dec. 19 that Schmitz would take over the helm of the city’s embattled Fire Department, but City Manager David N. Ream said Monday that Ralph Andersen & Associates, the recruiting firm hired by the city to screen candidates for the chief’s post, had discovered that Schmitz had lied in claiming a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. Schmitz subsequently agreed to withdraw his name from consideration.

Schmitz said Tuesday that he wants to continue in his current post as a San Mateo County fire chief and added that he is angry that the details of his dealings with Santa Ana were disclosed publicly.

Effect Called Disastrous

“It was an incredibly stupid error on my part. . . . But I am extremely disappointed in city officials in Santa Ana for releasing that information the way they did,” Schmitz said. “The effect on my reputation and my family has been disastrous. What I did was wrong, but I’m not out there alone.”

Despite the damaging effect, Schmitz said, he isn’t considering any kind of legal action. “That’s not the way I do business,” he said.

City Manager Ream said the city didn’t release any information initially beyond a press release saying that negotiations with Schmitz had broken off. After that, he said, there were numerous calls from the news media.

“We were only reacting to information,” Ream said.

Despite the misrepresentation, officials in San Carlos and Belmont, where Schmitz serves as chief of the South San Mateo County Fire Protection Authority, praised him Tuesday and said they had no evidence that he had lied when applying for the job there nine years ago. As chief, Schmitz serves both cities and some unincorporated territory in the area between San Jose and San Francisco.

‘An Outstanding Job’

“In my own opinion, Gary Schmitz has been with us for 9 1/2 years, and he’s done an outstanding job,” said San Carlos Mayor Victor Stoltz. Stoltz and three other city officials met informally Tuesday morning to review the situation and also checked the chief’s personnel file.

“There was nothing to indicate (any misrepresentation),” said San Carlos Acting City Manager Marty Tarshes. “He stated only that he had an associate of arts degree from Mira Costa Junior College in Oceanside.”

Tarshes added that Schmitz’s San Carlos application also indicated that he had earned about 130 units of college credits from a number of institutions, including San Diego State University, the University of Maryland and Santa Ana College. He called Schmitz’s actions in Santa Ana “a very grave mistake.”

The Fire Protection Authority will hold a meeting Wednesday night, Stoltz said, and probably will take some action to officially endorse Schmitz, who hadn’t submitted a resignation yet. “The way it looks right now, that’s the way it will go,” he said.

Stoltz added that the requirements in San Carlos and Belmont aren’t as strict as Santa Ana. “We wouldn’t have been that interested in a college degree anyway. It’s really not that pertinent to the job,” he said.

In Santa Ana, city officials said there will be no decision for a few weeks on whether to choose from the other three finalists for the $73,000-a-year chief’s job or to conduct a new recruiting effort. “It’s just too quick for that,” said Mayor Dan Young. “I think they want to be sure that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed first.”