Jackson Fire Chief Retires
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After 26 years with the fire department, Chief James Pearson announced he is retiring for a second time. Pearson told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that he and Mayor Jerry Gist both agreed that it was time for him to step down. He said the fire department and mayor’s administration started to challenge some of the things he had implemented. “I think in the beginning Mayor Gist and I had agreed if the time ever came that he could no longer support my agenda and I could no longer agree with some of the things and the direction that he was going in when it came to public safety, that by consent, we would just bow out gracefully. That time is now,” Pearson said. Pearson has spent the last three years with the city’s fire department serving as chief. He has had a clean record, too, up until the last three months, when human resources confirmed four grievances and two complaints were filed against him. Pearson said they played a part in his sudden retirement. “When members of the department that I’ll call ‘wannabes’ have never experienced what it’s like to be a fire chief think they have more information, more knowledge and more skills in running the fire department – and a lot of those complaints or grievances are being reinforced by members of the mayor’s administration – then yeah, it does have an impact,” Pearson said. His retirement also comes at a time when he and his wife are going through a legal separation. In her filing, she cites inappropriate marital conduct, namely adultery, and irreconcilable differences as her grounds for separation. “My personal life has nothing to do with my work with the fire department,” Pearson said. Firefighters said their routine is not going to change because the chief has stepped down. “We’re ready to move on as a department and as a city,” Fire Marshal Wayne Arnold said. Mayor Gist said he is “very comfortable with the staff that’s in place” and an interim chief will be appointed Monday. Even though Pearson will no longer be fire chief, after his retirement takes effect September 26, he said he will still serve Madison County as a commissioner.
