San Benito Assistant City Manager Art Rodriguez tells Action 4 News a fire captain showed up to work intoxicated Saturday.
His credentials and work issued gun were immediately taken from him.
People in the community are surprised to hear this about a public servant, but they said the captain’s entire record should be taken into consideration.
Rodriguez said City Ordinance 2426 calls for a committee review of the incident and that it was put in place several years ago to address issues with civil servants.
In a statement Rodriguez also said.
"As city managers, we obviously cannot control a person’s thoughts, but we do have a responsibility to the people of the city of san Benito and the programs we manage; inclusive to address behavior that affects the individual Employee(s) And the city."
Linda Saldana has lived in San Benito her entire life and said if the captain was in fact drunk when he showed up for work, he should get a stiff punishment since he is an emergency responder and responsible for helping save lives.
"He may not do the job the way he's supposed to be doing it, I know alcohol alters your way of thinking," she said. Saldana believes the veteran firefighter should have used better judgment since he is setting the example for the rest of his department.
“That's too bad because he should've known better,” Saldana said. “That would (not) be a good example because the younger people look up to the older ones for direction."
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