The tenure of Cy-Fair Fire Chief Amy Ramon is once more a topic of deliberation for the Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 board. As reported by KPRC 2, the board is set to address Chief Ramon's employment status in back-to-back meetings slated for Thursday and Friday.
Details on why Chief Ramon's position is up for review again aren't clear, but this isn't the first time her job has been closely examined. This week marks the third instance her role has landed on the board's agenda, the first being in May and now twice in this current week. Community Impact highlighted that the previous consideration for her dismissal was in response to a "complaint or charge," which after a nearly five-hour meeting in May led to no action taken by the board despite the circumstances.
Behind the procedural curtain, tensions have apparently flared within the department. An exchange of emails between the union president and a board member about the investigative process reached a boiling point on July 31. According to the emails retrieved by KPRC 2, the board president, Rob Paiva, had requested that Chief Ramon take disciplinary measures against union president Chris Fillmore. Fillmore was accused by Paiva of promoting insubordination after telling union members they were not "obligated" to communicate with commissioners. Ramon defended her stance, telling Paiva she was not a union member and could not discipline Fillmore for exercising his rights to free speech.
Despite the back-and-forth, Chief Ramon has reportedly been kept in the dark. Her attorney stated she has yet to be interviewed or to even receive details about the investigations or any specific performance issues that could be driving the board's repeated reviews. As Narissa Mackinnon, a board member, expressed in a statement obtained by KPRC 2, nothing in the executive sessions suggested that Chief Ramon's dismissal was imminent. Mackinnon urged a shift away from political agendas, calling for board president Paiva to "reevaluate his attention less on political agendas."
The following meetings are set to occur at the ESD 9 administration building on Telge Road in Houston, with a packed agenda, as per Community Impact. Beyond the discussion on Chief Ramon's employment, the board is set to deliberate on a variety of departmental matters including the construction of new fire stations, the implementation of an anonymous whistleblower system, possible amendments to the anti-harassment policy, and the potential acquisition of new ambulances.
