Houston Mayor John Whitmire says he told all of his 'Chiefs' that he would give them 6 months. And today, after Sam Pena "resigned", Assistant Chief Tom Munoz was officially announced and introduced, as the new Chief of the Houston Fire Department.
"I want to thank Chief Pena for his years in public service, but I couldn't be more excited than to present Tom Munoz" Whitmire said at a news conference, "Tom is a leader among leaders. He's an all-star when it comes to public safety, and I'm convinced he will soon be the greatest fire chief in America."
That's some pretty high praise for Tom Munoz, who has served the city as the Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director and Emergency Coordinator, and has over 26 years of experience as a first responder, emergency manager and also with the Coast Guard.
"I'm extremely humbled for this opportunity to lead this fire department" Munoz said adding, "We do have a lot of work to do, as the Mayor has mentioned. I feel very confident that we're going to reach those goals that we're going to set, to make sure this fire department is the best in the world, and the best in the country."
As for outgoing Chief Sam Pena, he told our tv partner KPRC 2 that he had not spoken with the Mayor about the issue. Peña is a 28-year veteran, and had been chief of the Houston Fire Department since Dec. 19, 2016.
Without mentioning him by name, Mayor Whitmire hit on some of things he thought should be better, while also expressing his frustration on the lack of generators causing 10 fire stations to close, issues with ambulances during Hurricane Beryl, and he noted the Kingwood Fire Station had firefighters sleeping on the floor. "That's not the way we treat our heroes" Whitmire said.
"I'm looking for the best run fire department in the nation" Whitmire said while wrapping up, "I'm not a patient person."