Pete Piringer, a highly respected and longtime spokesman for public safety agencies in the region, has been removed from his position and reassigned to a city hall administrative office. WTOP is reporting the reassignment appears to be an attempt to curtail the level of information funneled from Fire & EMS to the public via the media and Twitter.
In other words, Piringer was too good at his job?
Fire officials have said the move is only temporary and not an attempt to “punish” Piringer. He has been detailed to the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia, where he will serve as the communications manager.
OK, maybe the secretary’s office does need help, as officials said. But does that mean they should take a guy, widely regarded among journalists as one of the best and most responsive public information officers in the city, from a position that demands responsiveness and 24/7 availability and stick him in a 9-to-5 position in an obscure basement office in city hall?
But don’t take our word for it — this profile of Piringer, published one month ago in a communications industry magazine, paints him as the “pinnacle of professionalism.” It also adds he took a pay cut when he moved from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue to become PIO for D.C. Fire two years ago.
