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Delahanty resigns as St. George Island fire chief
Kevin Delahanty has resigned as fire chief of the St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 12, the department’s board of directors of accepted Delahanty’s resignation. Ben Mathewson will continue to serve on an interim basis as the fire chief and John Alonzo will serve as deputy chief.
In a news release issued Wednesday by the department’s attorney, Barbara Sanders, said that as part of its search for a new fire chief, it is “working on that application process to make sure that St. George Island, owners, residents, and visitors all get the highest quality volunteer fire department and first responder unit.”
Following his use of a racial slur in a confrontation last month with a Black man who was visting the island with his family, the department suspended Delahanty, 64, and directed him to undergo counseling for anger management and to attend diversity training.
An incident report issued by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said a man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana reported that he had been in the area of Island Adventures when he saw Delahanty attempting to cross the road. The man said he stopped his vehicle to allow Delahanty to cross, and then noticed Delahanty following him.
The man said Delahanty pulled up and yelled “Do you know where the f*** you are?”
A videotape of the exchange, taken by the man, indicated that as Delahanty drove off, he yelled “f***ing n***er.”
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.