The waters surrounding the affair are murky, but what is clear is that the City of Portland is maneuvering to pay – or avoid paying – the former firefighter Tom Hurley a sum of nearly $50,000 as part of compensation for issues arising from the firefighters employment status from April of 2007 to December of 2010. The City has been hesitant to pay, citing his service term as insufficient to qualify for benefits.

The City of Portland is poised to pay Tom Hurley nearly $50,000 to "make whole" the fire inspector for the years of service credit toward his pension that he lost when the city cut off his disability benefits in 2007.

The money will come out of the city's general fund, under an ordinance that goes before the City Council on Wednesday.

If approved, it will allow Hurley to start collecting his pension in February and end a controversial career. He's collected disability benefits for more than a decade, was paid to study at the French Culinary Institute of New York and ran two restaurants as a firefighter-turned-chef while continuing to receive monthly disability checks.

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