Mission fire chief resigns abruptly

Mission Fire Chief Adrian Garcia resigned suddenly Tuesday after only a year-and-a-half on the job.

 

 

In a letter, Garcia informed the city he’d be vacating his post immediately, though not officially resigning until the end of November.

 

The city says he’ll stay on the payroll till then.

 

“I remain available to assist in any capacity needed throughout this final month,” Garcia wrote. “Should you require any support or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on my personal cell phone.”

 

Garcia didn’t say why he decided to resign and attempts to reach him for comment weren’t successful.

 

City council is slated to meet Monday to discuss naming an interim replacement to run the department.

 

Garcia had considered an employment opportunity outside the city in August, but said, at the time, that he chose not to pursue it.

 

“If there’s an opportunity that comes by, of course I’m gonna look at it,” he said then. “You know, I’ve always been very progressive in my career and always look for opportunities.”

 

Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza said Tuesday that she wasn’t aware of what prompted Garcia to quit, though she complimented him on his time leading the department.

 

 

“I thought he was a tremendous asset,” she said. “Getting equipment — everything is so delayed these days — and it’s hard, it’s hard to work that way, but he did his best, and we appreciate that. And I think he always had the fire department’s best interest always in mind. Actually, he’s the one that got the EMS going where it is today, so that is something the council is very appreciative of, because that was a goal that we wanted to get done, and he helped us get it done.”

 

Mike Silva, the president of Mission Fire Fighters Association Local 3609, was more curtly supportive of the outgoing chief.

 

“Wish him well,” Silva wrote via text.

 

Garcia is the third Mission fire chief to resign in eight years.

 

A career firefighter, Garcia framed his return to Mission last year as an ordained homecoming. He predicted minor tweaks and pledged more communication with the fire department’s union.

 

Instead, he presided over an early EMS rollout that wasn’t always smooth and sometimes butted heads with the union.

 

Both of Garcia’s predecessors exited the city after tension with the union.

 

Garcia did, too.

 

 

Negotiations this summer between the city and the union sometimes produced sparks, and in August Silva formally complained about Garcia failing to communicate, though he later said those issues had been resolved.

 

Garza thinks Mission’s made strides towards improving relations with its unions — particularly since 2016, when the city and the fire fighters union had a blowout over equipment.

 

“So I don’t believe that that’s the problem,” she said. “Like I said, it’s changed dramatically from 2016 to 2024.”

 

Garza acknowledged issues this year — referencing concerns about overtime — but described them as being not so significant.

 

“Actually I don’t know of anything the unions, either PD or fire department, are concerned about right now,” she said.