Jacksonville emergency response chief resigns after news report airs

Jacksonville will have a new director of emergency preparedness for the upcoming hurricane season after an Action News report resulted in the division chief resigning from the post, marking the second sudden change in a year for the team that coordinates responses to dangerous storms and other hazards.

Mayor Lenny Curry announced Friday he appointed Andre Ayoub, a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, as chief of the emergency preparedness division. Ayoub replaces Todd A. Smith who resigned this week from that leadership post as hurricane season approaches on June 1.

Smith held that title for less than a year. He moved into that slot after Steve Woodard, who won plaudits for his steady hand during emergency situations, died in June 2022 after heading the division since 2013.

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Curry said Ayoub brings experience in the field from his time as chief of the special events division at the Sheriff's Office. In that post, he was the main contact in the Sheriff's Office for emergency preparedness in the face of weather disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Public safety is a top priority and being prepared for an emergency plays a big part in keeping our city safe," Curry said in making the appointment. "Andre is an excellent leader and tireless public servant. I have complete confidence in his management and expertise."

Action News reported Tuesday that Smith faced a complaint a year ago about his behavior at a national homeland security conference.

A criminal intelligence analyst for the Missouri State Highway Patrol complained that Smith approached her at an evening event during the conference and "grabbed her arm and dragged her onto the dance floor," according to internal emails cited by Action News.

Action News reported Smith asked the intelligence analyst where she was staying and “continuously intruded on (her) personal space, physically placing his hands on her arms, encircling her waist and touching her buttocks" until she was able to “remove herself from Todd’s presence.”

In his resignation letter, Smith denied the account in the Action News report, writing "some local newscasters do not seek facts but instead relish unfounded allegations, tabloid drama, and creating ongoing discontent."

"I want to be clear that the recent news story about me is completely false, yet another example of their utter falsehoods bent only on ruin," Smith wrote.

He wrote he was resigning as director and division chief of emergency preparedness "to avoid further distractions in the weeks leading up to hurricane season."

Action News reported the woman did not file an official report because she hoped it would be handled administratively. Her supervisor contacted Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Chief Keith Powers "so it could be handled appropriately," according to an internal email exchange.

According to the Action News report, Powers told the Missouri agency he'd fire Smith if it every happened again and would “place a formal reprimand in Smith’s personnel file.”

Smith's personnel file does not contain anything about the incident, but emails show Powers and representatives of the city's Office of General Counsel and the city's employee services met with Smith and told him he "must maintain a professional relationship" while in a job-related capacity and could be disciplined for violating city policy, the news report said.

The city also assigned him remedial sexual harassment training, the report said.

Smith remains employed with the Fire and Rescue Department at the rank of lieutenant. He must go back through all training to be eligible to go back into the field, according to the mayor's office.

Ayoub will still be employed by the Sheriff's Office. Sheriff T.K. Waters agreed to detail him to the fire department to fill the emergency preparedness division job, which will pay about $153,000 a year, the same salary Smith received.

Interim sheriff Pat Ivey demoted Ayoub from chief to lieutenant on Nov. 8, the same day Waters defeated Lakesha Burton in the race for sheriff.

Ayoub supported Burton in the race and backed up a claim she made that another candidate offered his endorsement to Burton if she would agree to make him undersheriff if she won.

Waters told First Coast News after the election that the demotion was Ivey's decision and "had to do with campaigning as an employee. Andre's a friend, remains a friend."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: TV report spurs resignation of Jacksonville emergency response chief