Who says life cannot imitate art?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/lafd-logo.jpg\" "\\"lafd"){kind=logo}
As if ripped right off the pages from the daily rushes of a sizzling daytime soap opera, the latest storyline in the always interesting life of the LA (Lehigh Acres) Fire Department reveals deception, breach of trust, infidelity and salacious sex between firefighters.<\/p>\n
LAFD Chief John Wayne has released a public records report concerning the investigation of Lt. Larry Arfmann, assigned to Station 102. There actually was no investigation, per se, but an examination of a confession admitted by Arfmann that he had been engaged in a long-time sexual relationship with a subordinate co-worker. According to Wayne, this is a serious violation of district policy. Note: there is no rule or regulation prohibiting what the district terms as being involved in a \u201cdating\u201d relationship between employees as well as between supervisor\/subordinate. The violation enters because district policy demands that the senior employee immediately report the relationship to the proper chain of command. Ostensibly, concern rises to make sure both parties are separated professionally to avoid impropriety.<\/p>\n
Impropriety?<\/p>\n
Well, the plot starts to thicken here. Yes, Arfmann finally \u201ccame clean.\u201d He reported the affair to Wayne sort of voluntarily. Sort of only due to the fact he \u201cgot busted.\u201d Not by one of his superiors. He wasn\u2019t ratted out by a fellow worker or an anonymous phone call from a district taxpayer. No\u2026he was found out by his wife. Uh-oh.<\/p>\n
Wayne met with Arfmann who, according to the chief, was forthcoming and honest about the illicit relationship he had with FF\/PM Denise Potter. However, the One Life to Burn<\/em> writers threw in the first plot twist when Arfmann\u2019s wife, Dawn, reported that Potter had attempted to secure a restraining order against her. It was denied but no additional \u201csecrets\u201d were revealed concerning why Potter had felt the move necessary. What\u2019s that old saying about a woman scorned?<\/p>\n Since Arfmann waived a formal inquiry as well as any legal representation, Wayne turned the matter over to Arfmann\u2019s supervisor, Battalion Chief Tim Christensen for a disciplinary recommendation. Christensen interviewed both Arfmann and Potter determining that although poor judgment was evident, a violation of the Workplace Relationship policy had occurred (Arfmann failed to report the affair immediately) the affair was ended and no repeat activity of this nature would ever occur again. He recommended Arfmann receive a one-shift (24-hour) suspension. Potter faced no disciplinary action at all.<\/p>\n Drama over? Are you kidding?<\/p>\n Wayne rejected Christensen\u2019s recommendation. He stated he did not agree with Christensen and delivered the following disciplinary action:<\/p>\n Does the storyline end here. No\u2026but unlike a Friday soap episode, no cliffhanger here.<\/p>\n Arfmann obviously liked his supervisor-in-arms disciplinary solution since he filed a grievance through the union to fight the chief\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n Losing whatever the value of a one-shift suspension was all Arfmann was willing to suffer for violating district policy. Now bring on the lawyers\u2026bring on additional costs for the taxpayers of the LAFD.<\/p>\n Stay tuned for continuing episodes of One Life to Burn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who says life cannot imitate art? As if ripped right off the pages from the daily rushes of a sizzling daytime soap opera, the latest storyline in the always interesting… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Larry-Arfmann.png\" "\\"Larry")
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