The fire chief, who is also the police chief, got fired for working at Pizza Hut. Now firefighters in Texas town have quit.
In Rio Hondo, Texas Sam Martinez wore quite a few hats. As public safety director since 1999 he was the town’s police chief and fire chief. Since 1992 the chief also worked at Pizza Hut. Most recently Chief Martinez supervised the drivers on weekends taking in $1800 from Pizza Hut last year.
It was the Pizza Hut job, nine miles away in Harlingen, that did in Martinez. The Rio Honda City Commission fired Chief Martinez because he didn’t disclose his outside employment. The chief claims he did tell a previous group of commissioners.
The commissioners have apparently implied that Martinez was on city time while working at the restaurant. The chief says his troubles began when he started an investigation of a city official.
Because of the dispute nine of the city’s 15 volunteer firefighters have quit the department. It sounds like a mess.
In the 2000 Census, Rio Hondo listed a population of less than 2000 people.
Click the links above to learn more about the story.
