Portsmouth, VA fire chief back on job three months after he resigned. City officials refuse to provide an explanation.

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There is a strange little drama unfolding in Portsmouth, Virginia where the newspaper and some city leaders are trying to find out why Fire Chief Don Horton is back on the job after submitting his resignation on July 24. When he left it was explained to the Virginian-Pilot Horton was returning to Richmond because of a family medical issue.

Before resurfacing, a lot of questions had already come up last month about the chief when it was reported that Horton remained on the payroll after July 24. It was explained to the paper by City Manager Kenneth Chandler that the chief qualified for rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but City Councilman Bill Moody couldn’t get an answer.

Mayor Kenny Wright, when asked yesterday why the chief was back, referred questions to Chandler. Chandler is not talking.

Reading the article by Gary A. Harki and Patrick Wilson and looking at the various answers and non-answers from people, you have to wonder what is being hidden and how bad can it be that it is worth all the bad publicity and scrutiny that will come by trying to avoid the issue. Here’s more:

When asked about his status on Monday inside City Hall, Horton said he is employed by the city, but he declined to answer further questions.

“I find it somewhat intrusive to have this brought up in the media again and again, and I want to leave my health and my family’s health out of this,” he said in his first public comment since submitting his resignation. He then stepped into an elevator.

City spokeswoman Dana Woodson said she forwarded a request from The Pilot for Horton’s salary and job title but did not receive an answer. Virginia law requires that information to be public.

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