Portland Sets Aside $35,000 to Defend Fire Chief Erin Janssens

By Beth Slovic

Portland's first female fire chief, Erin Janssens, is leaving her post this month, and the City Council is saying goodbye by proclaiming April 13 a day to honor her.

The city is also sticking taxpayers with a bill of up to $35,000 to defend Janssens in a Multnomah County Circuit Court lawsuit brought in October by a former subordinate.

As WW reported in June, senior civilian fire bureau employee Brian Alcid alleges Janssens grabbed his neck area and shook his head after a tense meeting in late 2013.

A city investigation of the incident found Janssens had acted "discourteously," but officials declined to discipline her.

In response to Alcid's lawsuit, the city inked a $35,000 contract with Pitzer Law to provide outside counsel for Janssens. Janssens did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Portland's city attorney, Tracy Reeve, declined to answer questions about why the city hired outside counsel.

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