DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — 9 Investigates is asking Daytona Beach Fire how a battalion chief was able to make more than $14,000 in overtime in six weeks.
Documents we obtained show that the employee, who is now the city’s Deputy Fire Chief, held a Monday through Friday position but clocked overtime hours on weekends and during time off.
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The payroll report from 2023 shows Jessica Matthews doubled her paycheck during a 6-week period. Matthews clocked more than 200 hours of overtime between May 27th and July 8th. Her paycheck for that timeframe included $14,414 in overtime, in addition to her regular paycheck.
Several of those days show that Matthews was on personal leave but still logged overtime hours, including a 23.5-hour shift on a Saturday.
9 Investigates asked for her schedule during those dates, which shows she was in an administrative position and not fighting fires. Her documented reason for the extra time said things like pro development plan, training manual and air pack manual.
We emailed Fire Chief Dru Driscoll to ask what that meant, why it had to happen during overtime hours and how it was possible to get overtime during personal time off.
Driscoll responded saying:
During the period of May 22, 2023, through July 8, 2023, then–Battalion Chief of Administration (now Deputy Fire Chief) Jessica Matthews worked a cumulative total of 198 hours of authorized overtime. These hours were dedicated to addressing a significant backlog of work resulting from a previously vacant essential position (January 1, 2023, through March 26, 2023) and to advancing departmental initiatives through the development of manuals and employee development tools.
The overtime was authorized by her immediate supervisor at the time, Deputy Fire Chief McCormack, who retired on January 31, 2025. The Battalion Chief of Administration role operates under the direct supervision of the Deputy Fire Chief. For the time period of your inquiry, the Daytona Beach Fire Department had only one Deputy Fire Chief position. Due to the City’s growth, increasing workload, and the need to advance various departmental initiatives, a second Deputy Fire Chief position was budgeted and filled on January 21, 2024, to provide additional capacity.
I share this information to illustrate the workload associated with advancing and administering the Fire Department in fulfillment of our mission to serve the community.
Regarding the hours worked, all time is logged in the department’s time management system by specific hours (time of day) and pay code, with generalized notes provided for each entry (excluding regular hours). Employees are eligible for overtime based upon department need during hours which they are not assigned to regular duty or personal leave. The authorized overtime during the period in question included, but was not limited to:
- Development of a Field Training Officer Manual
- Creation of a Professional Development Plan
- Revision of Probationary Firefighter Program
- Other assigned duties essential to departmental progress
These tasks were significant and time-intensive, reflecting Chief Matthews’ selfless commitment and tireless work ethic, as well as her dedication to improving services and fostering career development for the men and women of our department.
To offer a review of the items developed by Chief Matthews during the time period in question, I have provided some examples attached to this email response.
Thank you again for your inquiry and the opportunity to provide clarity and context.
Driscoll also attached three manuals Matthews completed during those 6 weeks. However, he still hasn’t explained why that work couldn’t have happened during her regular hours or why she was able to take time off if the work was time sensitive.
We have asked Driscoll for an interview to explain and we are still waiting to hear back.
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