Fire Chief Resigns after Buying Booze for Minor

After being , Gilroy Interim Fire Chief Roger Bloom resigned from his position on Monday.

Gilroy City Administrator Tom Haglund confirmed the resignation to Gilroy Patch Monday afternoon and said he is now in the process of assessing the timeline of the next hire for the position of fire chief. 

While the hiring process must start anew due to Bloom's misconduct, Haglund said there was no flaw in the onboarding in July when Bloom began as chief. 

"The hiring process the first time around — we couldn't see into the future to see something like this. It's definitely very unfortunate," Haglund said. "In the first round we conduct a background check. There was nothing in Chief Bloom's background of any sort of law enforcement nature that concerned us."

Bloom came to Gilroy after 25 years as a firefighter and chief in Palo Alto, Haglund said. And while he spoke highly of his track record managing fire, Haglund said Bloom's actions on Friday are unacceptable of city employees. 

"I have no idea why he would have done something like this," Haglund said. "But nonetheless, that type of activity is incosistent of someone holding the position of fire chief in the city of Gilroy. It's inconsistent with my expectations of department heads, managers and employees of the city of Gilroy."

Are you surprised to hear about Bloom's citation? Was he right to resign?Tell us in the comments. 

Want Patch in your inbox every morning? Subscribe to our free newsletter!