MENLO PARK: Controversial fire chief steps down

Rick Tye applies for disability retirement; Charlie Fasso appointed acting chief

by Vicky Anning

During his five years at the helm of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Rick Tye's motto was "cheaper, better and faster," according to the former fire chief's colleagues. But in the end, Tye's controversial cost-cutting policies and his ongoing attempts to merge the district with a neighboring department may have contributed to the stress that led him to apply for disability retirement Monday night, according to Capt. Harold Schapelhouman.

Tye, 41, who joined the fire district in 1992, had been showing signs of illness for the past 12 months, Schapelhouman said. And he had been on sick leave for the past 30 days, according to Schapelhouman, who was appointed acting division chief Monday night.

Due to the confidentiality of Tye's application for disability retirement, the nature of his ailment has not been released. But several members of the district's board of directors have cited a back injury as one of the contributing factors.

Tony Spitaleri, president of the Palo Alto Firefighter's Union, said that Tye had also been experiencing heart problems.

According to board member Del Krause, the board will not accept Tye's application until it has received full documentation of his ailments. "We need to get all the facts before we can make a decision," Krause said.

In the meantime, a special meeting of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District's board of directors Monday night appointed Operations Chief Charlie Fasso as the acting chief for the fire district, which serves 80,000 residents of Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Atherton and unincorporated Redwood City.

Fasso, 53, came to Menlo Park from the Oakland Fire Department in 1991, Schapelhouman said. He will fill Tye's vacant position until the board can appoint a permanent fire chief, which will not be until January at the earliest, Krause said.

But don't expect any change in Menlo Park fire district's controversial policies any time soon. According to Schapelhouman, Tye's cost-cutting mentality has left an imprint on his successors, who will continue in Tye's footsteps.

"We're not a traditional fire agency," Schapelhouman said. "And that has upset other agencies. That's the fallout from pushing the envelope."

In his quest for cutting costs and increasing efficiency, Tye has antagonized many local fire chiefs and unions, according to Spitaleri from the Palo Alto Fire Department. Less than three months after Tye agreed to explore merging with Fremont Fire Department, he changed his mind and courted the Redwood City Fire Department instead. This deal fell through in 1996.

In 1995, Tye approached Palo Alto for possible consolidation, but those negotiations stalled when the Palo Alto fire chief discovered that Tye had gone behind his back in an attempt to win the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center fire service contract away from Palo Alto, according to Spitaleri.

"I hate anyone to be ill," Spitaleri said. "But I'll be glad to see someone more professional coming in."

But within the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Tye was very popular, Schapelhouman said.

"There are a lot of people who will be sorry to see him go," Schapelhouman said. "History will prove that he was an advocate for change."

Under Tye's leadership, Menlo Park became the first fire district in the county to carry paramedics in each engine, Schapelhouman said. The district has just spent $1.8 million on a new fire station in Belle Haven as part of a districtwide seismic upgrade and modernization program. And Menlo Park also boasts a highly regarded Urban Search and Rescue Team that responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Northridge Earthquake and 1997 floods in California.

Tye's wife said Wednesday from their Lake of the Pines home in the Sierra Nevada foothills that her husband was out of town for the foreseeable future and unavailable for comment.

Back up to the Table of Contents Page