Tim Butler, who has been St. Paul’s fire chief for a decade, announced Saturday he will step down from the department’s helm.

Butler asked the mayor that he be allowed to continue working at the fire department by returning to a lesser role he used to have.

Butler has faced controversy, particularly in recent weeks. The deputy mayor issued him a written reprimand Oct. 10, after an investigation concluded he retaliated against an employee.

The discipline came two days after the president of the rank-and-file firefighters’ union filed a different complaint against Butler, alleging he used a derogatory term in an email to a firefighter. Butler has been the subject of three other complaints by employees since late 2015; two were investigated and closed last year without discipline and another remains under investigation.

Butler sent Mayor Chris Coleman a letter Saturday, saying Monday he would voluntarily end his appointment as fire chief. He requested to be reinstated to his previous title of fire emergency management and communications chief.

Butler, 58, told fire department employees in an email Saturday morning that he was proud of a variety of accomplishments during his tenure but there has also been heartbreak when firefighters have died or been injured.

“I have given the job my best effort and find myself tiring from the effort of pushing forward,” Butler wrote. “With the passing of several beloved family members, the anticipated arrival of my first grandchild, and the worry about aging parents, I find I have other priorities to attend to, and other possibilities to explore. It is time I step back and time for someone else to lead the department into the future.” Related Articles St. Paul PD highlights surveillance photos of looting suspects, seeks tips

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The selection of a new fire chief is expected to fall to the next mayor. The election is next month and Coleman is not running again.

LABOR STRIFE A FACTOR FOR DECADES

Labor strife has long been an issue in St. Paul’s fire department. Butler’s predecessor, Doug Holton, left to become Milwaukee’s fire chief soon after an external audit laid out an internal “crisis” in the department, stemming largely from tensions between the chief and rank-and-file firefighters, the St. Paul International Association of Fire Fighters Local 21. The longtime fire chief before Holton also had a contentious relationship with Local 21.

When Coleman announced his pick for fire chief in 2007, Butler said, “I see great challenges. Challenges to mend the rift between labor and management, challenges to be more efficient.”

Local 21 was initially supportive of Butler, but the union said its relationship with the fire chief deteriorated over the years. By August 2016, the international union voted to censure Butler, publicly airing Local 21’s long-simmering frustration with Butler’s leadership.

Mary Kaase, who worked closely with Butler when she in charge of the St. Paul Fire Foundation, said she saw Butler as an outstanding fire chief. But she said he was often in no-win situations.

“I think the politics of the union took its toll on that good man,” said Kaase, who met Butler 25 years ago at their Maplewood church and describes him as a humble family man. “Once (Butler) said to me, ‘If the union asks me for 10 things and budget-wise I’m able to get them three, they’re mad at me because I wasn’t able to get the other seven.’ ”

But Mike Smith, Local 21 president, said he’s seen Butler take an attitude of “it was his way or no way” since Coleman reappointed him to a second six-year term in 2013.

Butler, who did not respond to messages seeking comment Saturday, followed an unconventional path to the job. He has worked for the city since 1990, though he did not rise through the fire department’s ranks as a firefighter. Butler was the city’s director of emergency management and before that the fire department’s emergency management and communications chief.

Smith said firefighters, whom he described as “the so-called experts on the streets,” would bring recommendations to Butler, but “he would rarely hear us out.”

A statement from the mayor’s office Saturday didn’t address the tension. Coleman thanked Butler for his service.

“The St. Paul Fire Department is one of the best in the country,” Coleman said in the statement. “Over his decade of service as chief, Tim Butler has been an important part of maintaining the excellent quality of service that SPFD delivers to our residents.”

MAYOR TO ANNOUNCE INTERIM CHIEF

Matt Simpson, St. Paul Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Medical Services, will serve as acting fire chief until Coleman announces an interim chief “in the very near future,” Butler wrote to the department.

Butler’s salary was $146,910 and will be $114,000 in his new position, according to St. Paul’s human resources director.

The fire chief oversees 434 firefighters and a budget proposed at $69 million for next year.

Local 21 is excited for the change in leadership, Smith said.

“We look forward to working with the new administration and moving this department forward,” he said.

The next fire chief will take the helm during continued discussions about the department’s future.

An outside study of the fire department, released in July, noted that an overwhelming percentage of calls to St. Paul firefighters are for medical emergencies and said the department needs “a paradigm shift” to best handle the workload.

In August, Coleman released his proposed budget for 2018. It called for adding two new supermedic teams without new hiring at the fire department. There has been discussion of eliminating one of the city’s three specialty rescue squads, but a fire department labor-management committee has been meeting to come up with alternatives. Coleman has asked for a plan by the end of this month.

RECEIVED PRAISE FOR WORK, AND CRITICISM

In his letter to the fire department, Butler detailed a number of milestones during his tenure, including:

Creating three “supermedics” crews, which allow a fire truck and ambulance from the same station to be out on different calls, and increasing the number of ambulances from 11 to 13.

Adding 30 uniformed positions to the department, including 18 firefighter positions and 112 fire medic cadet positions.

Developing Project Safe Haven, which is a home inspection program, and other public education initiatives.

When Coleman reappointed Butler in 2013, he praised the fire chief for improvements in the department’s response times, infrastructure and staff diversity. In 2014, the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association named Butler as its Fire Officer of the Year, citing his commitment to safety programs and training and EMS training opportunities for minorities.

But Deputy Mayor Kristin Beckmann had harsh words for Butler when she issued him a written reprimand this month.

Last year, a district fire chief filed a complaint against Butler. Butler was not disciplined in that case, but he called the employee after it was over and “repeatedly questioned … why (the employee) filed a complaint” against him, which “equates to intimidation by a superior officer,” Beckmann wrote to Butler.

On Oct. 8, the president of Local 21 filed a complaint against Butler after the fire chief sent an email to a firefighter with the subject “BLUE FALCON,” which is a military euphemism that stands for “buddy (expletive).”

Butler, a retired U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve officer, said the slang refers to a person who blames someone else, while trying to maintain their own advantage. He has said that he did not call the firefighter a derogatory term and noted that he merely intended the subject line to refer to the firefighter’s actions, but he also said the phrase was “unprofessional and uncalled for” and he apologized.

TIM BUTLER AT A GLANCE

Age: 58

Job: Worked for St. Paul since 1990. He was the city’s director of emergency management before mayor appointed him to be fire chief in 2007. He will step down as chief on Monday and return to his previous title of fire emergency management and communications chief.

Education: Bachelor’s in marine science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, master’s in public safety administration from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Military: He was an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve for more than 22 years, and as a reservist, he was chief of staff for a unit that helped supply forces in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Personal life: Married for more than 30 years and has three adult children. Volunteers with his church and has been a marathon runner.

In his own words to the fire department: “I am proud of the work we’ve done together to reach these milestones, and I am proud to have led the department through some huge transformations. These things have rarely been easy to accomplish, and the road hasn’t always been smooth.”

St. Paul Fire Chief Tim Butler’s letter to fire department employees, which he emailed Saturday morning as he announced he was stepping down.