LAWRENCE – A blistering decision by a state agency repeatedly discredits Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena, saying he passed over a Lawrence fire captain for a promotion to deputy chief as political payback.
DePena “deliberately acted to injure” Capt. Wayne Leduc, who scored the highest on the deputy chief’s exam, because Leduc opposed DePena’s creation of an assistant fire chief position at the department Lawrence Fire Department, according to the July 13 ruling by the state Civil Service Commission. .
“The mayor made a series of statements that I simply cannot credit because they were refuted by other reliable evidence, both documentary and testimonial,” Commissioner Shawn Dooley wrote.
DePena declined to comment on the commission’s findings.
After Leduc was passed over, Captain Matthew Nadeau was promoted to deputy chief by DePena on October 20, 2022.
As a result of the ruling, Leduc now moves to the top of the list of deputy fire chiefs for the next available promotion.
Chief Brian Moriarty stated that both Leduc and Nadeau were “great firefighters and he had no problems with either of them,” according to the decision.
The fire union has vocally opposed the assistant fire chief’s job with a recommended salary of $120,000. The proposed position would bypass the union, he would report to the mayor, and was created for DePena’s ally, firefighter Pat Ruiz.
“Union members asserted that it was ‘no secret’ that the mayor had proposed the position as a ‘political favor’ for Pat Ruiz to increase his salary and subsequent pension,” according to the findings of the judgment of the Civil Service Commission.
Ruiz, a firefighter since 1988, “is a fire inspector and investigator … He campaigned for Mayor DePena, and the mayor hired Ruiz’s wife as an administrative assistant once he took office ”, according to the sentence.
DePena stated that the firefighters union had the wrong idea about the position and that it was not created for Ruiz.
However, the commission rejected that testimony, saying the job requirements reduced the position “to Ruiz and a small handful of other firefighters.”
“I believe the mayor has been unclear about his role in creating the position of assistant fire chief,” Dooley wrote.
The Civil Service Commission is a government agency designed to provide fairness in public sector jobs, including hiring, promotions, demotions and discipline.
In addition to having his testimony discredited numerous times, DePena also came under fire for failing to respond to a subpoena for documents related to the matter, including emails, memos and other correspondence.
DePena testified before the commission on May 16, 2023, but the city did not produce any of the subpoenaed documents.
The Commission determined that a “preponderance of evidence” supports the following conclusions:
DePena was aware of Leduc’s opposition to the assistant fire chief job, particularly the union’s criticism that it was a “political favor” for Ruiz.
DePena knew of Leduc’s role and “deliberately refused to authorize his promotion before the eligible list changed.”
“The mayor chose to wait for the new list to take effect and promote the best candidate who supported his campaign and refrained from engaging in public criticism of the union.”
Leduc joined the fire department in March 2004. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2012 and then to captain in 2016. He served as interim deputy chief from Dec. 27, 2020, to Feb. 14, 2021, according to the sentence
The decision noted that Chief Moriarty was not consulted and later expressed opposition to the assistant fire chief position.
Moriarty “tried to work with the mayor and “change the name (of the position) to just the title of fire marshal instead of a rank, so that Ruiz could stay on investigating fires for which he was good and qualified, but he would not have any “disciplinary power over rank and anger”, according to the sentence.
Leduc, testifying before the commission, said he spoke out against the deputy fire chief’s job at a spring 2022 union meeting.
He said he “knew he should have kept his mouth shut at the union meeting, but it really upset him that he had worked so hard to get the promotion and this unqualified person was getting to create a new position just because he was friends with the mayor ”, according to the commission’s conclusions.
Nadeau, now deputy chief, testified before the commission that he did not participate in any of the contests for the position of deputy fire chief. He also said he was not active in the union.
“Nadeau was also a member of Group 2 of LFD, which had been the most active group in supporting Mayor Depena’s electoral campaign. Nadeau made signs for DePena during the campaign,” Dooley wrote.
On September 7, 2022, Chief Moriarty wrote to Mayor DePena recommending Leduc’s promotion to Deputy Chief and other promotions.
“I recommend making these promotions immediately, as delay will result in unnecessary overtime and potential grievance procedures with the possibility of roster changes,” Moriarty wrote.
On September 14, 2022, Moriarty met with DePena. At the end of the meeting, he “reiterated” his promotional recommendations and noted that the current promotional eligibility list would expire the following day, September 15.
At 3:34 p.m. on September 14, DePena emailed Moriarty: “After reflecting on the promotion request regarding the fighters you mentioned, I am not taking any action at this time.”
When he testified, DePena said “he was simply busy and that’s why he didn’t get around to authorizing (Leduc’s) promotion.” DePena did not explain why he was so busy, according to the ruling.
Follow reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
