Fire Fighter apologizes to Mayor Plusquellic

It didn't take a beer with President Obama .. but Mayor Plusquellic and a fire fighter have kissed and made up. Sort of.

It's been 10 days since Lt. Dennis Shumaker and his girlfriend, "Melanie", tailed DP from a Tallmadge restaurant and then called 911 in order to have DP pulled over. The firestorm that followed has been a mess for the entire city.

Today (Tuesday), Shumaker met with Plusquellic and apologized both in written and verbal form.

By phone, Plusquellic told me that the meeting was "civil" and "the way two men with differences should sit and talk." He told me that he'll have a press conference on Wednesday to discuss this and other issues .. but he released this written statement a short time ago:

"Today, I met with Lt. Dennis Shumaker who last Friday, requested a personal meeting with me to apologize.

I assured him that his apology would end this matter as far as I was concerned, and that I would take no action to initiate any action against him or anyone else, and that I would not consider any disciplinary action against him arising out of this matter.

It is unfortunate for everyone involved that emotions over public policy decisions I have to make have produced strong reactions rather than discussions on solutions. Tough decisions - including residency for public employees and requirements to balance the budget in this difficult economic downturn - must be made by mayors around the country every day on behalf of all taxpaying residents.

All of us make mistakes. This apology puts this matter behind us. We will move forward and concentrate on serving the people of Akron with the best services we can provide."

I haven't had a chance to talk with Shumaker yet, but I'm hopeful that two things will come out of this: a) the end of the cell phone paparazzi .. and 2) our city can make headlines for more positive reasons indeed ..

more to come ..