Three weeks after Manhattan Beach firefighters publicly aired grievances about Fire Chief Robert Espinosa at a City Council meeting, the embattled chief has announced his retirement effective April 28. “A city should never be in a position where the community is asked to choose between its fire chief and their firefighters,” Espinosa wrote in his resignation letter. “I do not desire to hold a public discussion about the differences management and labor have.”
Twenty-one of 25 Manhattan Beach firefighters voted “no confidence” against the chief before speaking, some through tears, at the March 6 City Council meeting.