It’s been four months since first responders and Federal Heights residents crowded council chambers, angered after now former police chief Robert Grado and fire chief Marc Mahoney were fired abruptly.
“It’s been very emotionally draining, and there’s not a minute of the day that this isn’t on my mind,” Grado told CBS Colorado. “We were great employees … I personally had gone a year without one resignation in my department.”
The termination came after years of what they say was a breakdown in communication between their departments and the city, as well as city manager Jacqueline Halburnt’s leadership.
“We were doing the best things for (our officers), and to try to get good change, to get progressive change (and) we were fired,” Mahoney told CBS Colorado. “I was shocked, you know, and yet not completely surprised.”
Grado and Mahoney both stepped into their roles at a time when the police and fire departments were struggling with staffing issues and receiving funding from the city…