The City of Greater Sudbury announced this morning Donald Donaldson has resumed his post as the city's fire chief.
Donaldson had been on a paid leave of absence since May 2006. In October 2006 he launched a $220,000 lawsuit, claiming wrongful dismissal.
The lawsuit has been dropped.
Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez could barely hold back his enthusiasm as he stepped up to a podium to make the announcement.
“I'm delighted to announce Donald Donaldson is returning to work today as fire chief,” said a smiling Rodriguez.
“It's welcomed news. When I first met Donald...I felt a kindred spirit. Donald is part of an impressive team...a team that has had morale issues in his absence.”
Donaldson himself was also feeling the good vibrations even though he is suffering from a nasty flu bug.
“I'm pleased to be back,” said the chief.
“We have a great team here...the last year has been very uncertain for them. I have to thank all the firefighters for their support. Now that I am back and the structural changes have been made, I think it will allow us to make more progress. There's no ill will whatsoever. Whatever issues we had have been resolved. I don't carry a grudge...it's time to move forward. I can't wait to get back to work.”
Having been out of the post for almost a year, Donaldson will take his first week to get familiar with his new/old surroundings.
Structural issues were the catalyst for the whole saga.
“I had some concerns from a structural perspective of about how the leader of fire services was buried in bureaucracy and it was causing issues with my ability to operate the fire services,” said Donaldson.
“The issues have been completely resolved...no more being buried in bureaucracy. I report directly to the CAO. I'm a member of the senior management team as well. We will have a better understanding at council table of issues at fire services and how best we can solve them together.”
Greater Sudbury CAO Mark Mieto echoed Rodriguez's comments and said he has always been a staunch supporter of Donaldson.
“I've always held Donald in the highest regard...and it's never wavered,” said Mieto. “I've always been keen on having him come back. His contributions have been invaluable. We're excited to have him back running that department. He has great capabilities.”
