Palmer asks fire chief to retire

PALMER — The city may lose longtime fire chief Dan Contini by February after he was asked by city administration to retire.

Although 74, with decades at the Palmer Fire Department, Contini said the retirement request blindsided him.

“I’m not ready to retire,” Contini said Monday.

Contini said he recently had a meeting with Palmer City Manager Bill Allen and Palmer Special Assistant Sara Jansen in which he was asked to retire. A second meeting was scheduled two weeks later to get it straight.

Contini said the second meeting had to be scheduled because, “I couldn’t handle it in the first meeting. I kind-of got pretty emotional.”

Contini said no one with the city has told him why he’s being asked to retire from a department he helped build for nearly 40 years. The city’s main fire station on Cobb Street in downtown Palmer is named for Contini.

As of Monday, the city’s reason for asking Contini to retire is unknown. Palmer Director of Public Safety Jon Owen declined to comment, saying no one at the city typically talks about personnel issues. Owen referred questions to Allen. Allen was in a board meeting Monday afternoon and unavailable for comment, his executive assistant said.

Contini, a former Mat-Su Borough School Board member, has been the chief for almost 40 years and has been a safety educator in Mat-Su Borough schools, he said.

“It’s been a good career,” Contini said. “It was pretty hard to take when I heard it.”

What will happen to the department if Contini leaves is yet to be determined, but at least one firefighter said it will make for some other personnel changes in the department.

“If Dan leaves the old-timers will leave,” said Jesse Werner, a longtime firefighter with Palmer who is almost 70 years old. “He is by far the most dedicated public employee.”

Werner said he’s heard rumors regarding Contini, but none he can substantiate. He said he’s getting the sense the city is saying it’s time for Contini to go.

“The department will lose a very valuable employee,” Werner said, if that’s the case.

On Monday, Contini said he doesn’t want his situation with the city to be a distraction for the fire department.

“I don’t want to ruin the fire department,” Contini said. “It’s done real well. I’d just rather it be just mellow as time goes on.”

Contini said word of his situation with the city likely leaked out after he mistakenly mentioned it.

“It’s a quiet situation,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be known that I was asked to retire.”

Contini said he’s been given the option to stay on and work part-time for the city, although he doesn’t know if he’ll accept the offer. He also doesn’t know what he’ll do when he’s not chief anymore.

“I don’t play golf, I don’t travel,” Contini said. “When you enjoy something as long as I have and I’ve had my way with it, you don’t think of retirement. It was pretty hard to take when I heard it.”

Contini said he’s still torn on what to do. He said the request for his retirement has got him thinking if he should do so, but he still hasn’t made up his mind.

“Under this new regime and new management system, I guess I didn’t fit into the project,” Contini said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252