Wauk. Fire Chief Jesse Alba appears before Police & Fire Comm.

Waukesha Fire Chief appears before Police and Fire Commission

WAUKESHA (WITI) -- Waukesha Fire Chief Jesse Alba came under fire on Thursday, September 12th during a disciplinary hearing. At issue is whether Alba violated several city policies by asking one of his workers to resign because the two had an affair -- something she has denied. On Thursday, Alba told his side of the story for the first time.

Alba was promoted to chief in May of 2013, and soon after, allegations came to light that resuted in charges against Alba from the Mayor of Waukesha.

On Thursday, those charges were heard by the Police and Fire Commission in Waukesha.

The PFC was tasked with determining whether Alba violated city policies in asking a woman who worked part-time in the department to resign, because he had romantic feelings for her.

In emotional testimony, another co-worker on Thursday said she was friends with the chief and the co-worker in question, and lost respect for the chief after the woman told her the chief was pressuring her to resign.

"It was very upsetting to me that one friend asked another friend to leave her job and couldn't understand it. It was difficult to accept," the co-worker told the PFC.

Chief Alba tells a different story, saying two people in the department had an affair outside of marriage for both. When it ended, Alba says he wasn't the only one who had a tough time working together. The woman's emails to Alba were read to the PFC, and said the woman too was having a tough time seeing each other at work. Alba says he thought the woman leaving her job was a reasonable solution.

As for the woman's side of the story, officials have not yet been able to serve her with papers to testify. They will try again and schedule another hearing for September 25th.