Fire Chief Gets Termination Notice : Firing: Westminster official will appeal, but anticipates it will be a futile gesture. His refusal to aid L.A. firefighters during riots led to inquiry.

City Manager Jerry Kenny took the first steps to terminate Fire Chief D’Wayne Scott because he refused to send firefighters into Los Angeles during the April riots, and because of chronic absences and alleged alcohol abuse.

Scott, with his attorney present when he was handed a termination notice, said he would appeal the move and denied he did anything wrong.

The termination notice is effective Feb. 16. In the meantime, Scott remains on administrative leave with pay.

Scott and attorney Richard J. Silber have promised to respond to the allegations included in the six-page dismissal letter and, if necessary, sue the city to allow Scott to return to the job he has held since 1986.

But the embattled fire chief said he had been anticipating the city’s move and was not surprised by its timing. “I know that termination was a real possibility because that is what this has been about all along,” he said.

Scott, whose troubles began last spring when he refused to send firefighters to Los Angeles, has until Feb. 10 to respond in writing to the city’s grounds for the firing. Kenny will review Scott’s response and make a final decision by Feb. 16. If terminated, Scott can appeal Kenny’s decision to the city’s Personnel Commission and ultimately to the council.

Scott said Tuesday that he would appeal, but anticipates it will be a fruitless effort.

“In my own personal opinion, they are just going through the process and the steps,” he said. “I think it will end in my termination.”

City Atty. Richard Jones said that Scott will be given due process.

The city manager was not available for comment Tuesday.

According to the notice, the city cited Scott for six violations of the Personnel Policy Manual stemming from 14 separate incidents between April, 1989, and May, 1992. Five of the incidents are related to alleged alcohol use while off duty, which allegedly affected his job performance and embarrassed the city. Eight violations are related to Scott’s frequent absence, which caused meetings to be canceled and caused other problems in the department.

The other violation is for not sending firefighters to the riots at the request of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Scott denied the alcohol abuse allegations and has stood by his decision of not sending city firefighters to riot-torn Los Angeles because of safety concerns. He was the only fire chief in Orange County who refused to send assistance on the first night of rioting, upsetting many of his colleagues.

Scott has been on administrative leave with pay since May 27 after refusing to undergo a psychological evaluation sought by the city. The test was to determine whether alcohol use was affecting the chief’s job performance, as some Fire Department personnel had alleged.

Scott filed a grievance, saying that a psychological examination violated his right to privacy. In July, the city moved to suspend him for 20 days. The matter was referred to the personnel commission for review.

After five months of special hearings, the Merit Systems Commission concluded last month that the city has the right to discipline Scott after he refused the fitness-for-duty examination. The commission also denied Scott’s grievance. Last week, City Council members upheld those conclusions.

Scott and Silber have maintained that key evidence and testimony presented to the commission was ignored. Silber said he plans to challenge the commission’s findings in Superior Court. Scott, 51, has served in the Westminster Fire Department since he was a rookie firefighter in 1966. He moved up through the ranks before being promoted to chief in 1986.

“My wife and I have been over humps and valleys and have pretty well adjusted to the whole situation at this time, because it was not a surprise,” Scott said.