City names interim fire chief; women now hold 4 top posts
Diana Matty takes over for Dan Hanes, who left for undisclosed reason.
WEST PALM BEACH — Fire Chief Dan Hanes is out. Assistant Chief Diana Matty is in, on an interim basis.
Hanes, who replaced former Chief Carlos Cabrera in October 2015, stepped down Wednesday, a city spokesman said. No explanation was given for the departure.
For now, Mayor Jeri Muoio has replaced Hanes with Matty, a longtime high-level member of the Fire Rescue Department, which has 214 employees and an annual budget of nearly $36 million, the second-largest budget of any city department.
The appointment means that, probably for the first time in West Palm Beach history, the mayor and three top department heads all are female.
Police, Fire and Parks and Recreation have the city’s three largest budgets. The Police Department, led since February by Chief Sarah Mooney, has the largest, $57 million. Parks and Rec, led by Leah Rockwell, has the third-largest, $17 million.
West Palm has several other women in high-visibility leadership posts, including City Attorney Kimberly Rothenburg, Deputy City Administrator Dorritt Miller and City Clerk Hazeline Carson, not to mention three of the five cit y commissioners — Shanon Materio, Sylvia Moffett and Paula Ryan.
Hanes was assistant chief for t hree ye a r s before re pl a c i ng Cabrera on Oct. 22, 2015. Previously, he served 28 years with Keep up with The Post’s complete coverage of West Palm Beach on its Facebook page dedicated to the city. On Facebook, search for Post on West Palm Beach.
the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Department as a firefighter and EMS, retired as a battalion chief in 2008 and became fire chief of Fernandina Beach.
In November 2012, he joined West Palm Fire Rescue. As assistant chief for operations, he was “in charge of every thing that has to do with putting lights and sirens on the street and getting them to the emergencies, making sure they’re trained and properly equipped to respond to any emergency we have, and that they’re acting professionally, courteously and doing a good job providing the best possible service to residents and businesses in the city.”