SEAL ROCK — With Fire Chief Tom Sakaris on administrative leave and expected to be terminated at the end of the month, the Seal Rock Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors met Thursday evening, Oct. 14, to discuss the department’s future.
On Sept. 30, the board made the decision to terminate Sakaris, and during an Oct. 6 meeting made the controversial decision to hire former Toledo fire chief William Ewing to fill the role of interim chief as a “consultant” while the department searches for a permanent replacement.
Before the Oct. 6 meeting, former board member Dustin Joll resigned from his position after abstaining from the previous decision to fire Sakaris as the rest of the board voted to do so, 3-1. Board Member Tina Fritz was unable to attend the Oct. 6 meeting in person, but she voted against hiring Ewing after calling in mid-meeting to voice her concerns about recent allegations against him. Fritz was also absent during Thursday’s regular board meeting.
Before his appointment, the board acknowledged that Ewing had pending felony assault charges after he was accused of strangling his wife in September, but the board chose to ignore those allegations for the time being unless Ewing is found guilty.
Attending Seal Rock residents also took issue with Ewing’s role as the Idanha-Detroit Fire District chief, a district located in eastern Marion County and nearly three hours away from Seal Rock, with which he would need to share his time. But the board was satisfied with Ewing’s assurance he lived in Toledo and could handle both duties.
Both Ewing and the board also assured those attending the meeting that Ewing’s contract was on a “second-by-second” basis, and if at any time the board felt he wasn’t performing as expected or if he were convicted of the allegations of assault against him, he could be terminated immediately. For now, he will be employed with the district for around $3,000 a month.
With that in mind, the three newest members of the board, Al Anton, Mike Burt and Paul Rimola, met last Thursday to address several ongoing issues, but they couldn’t avoid continued scrutiny from district residents who shared their concerns shortly after the meeting began.
Tom Zimmerman, a fire district resident and former volunteer firefighter in other cities, began by asking the board to elaborate on why Sakaris was being let go, but the board refused, stating they had been advised by the fire district’s attorney not to discuss the termination at this time.
Zimmerman then asked what the future of the department would be with Sakaris on his way out, with the board replying that the main focus under Ewing as interim chief would be reinstating several volunteers who left the department due to disagreements with Sakaris.
“We had eight people who immediately came back as soon as (Sakaris) was gone,” Burt said.
Zimmerman asked whether or not those volunteers would be appropriately certified, which was a point of contention noted when a large group of volunteers separated from the station in 2020.
Members of the board said most of the volunteers aren’t appropriately certified yet, though several of the district’s EMTs are. Ewing claimed that certification was a “nebulous” concept and that while SRRFP volunteers might not have the certificate to hang on the wall, he intends to ensure everyone has the same level of training the state would require.
Zimmerman noted his larger concern was that the department would run into liability concerns if it allowed volunteers to work while not appropriately certified, but Ewing seemed to suggest there were other liability issues due to “mismanagement” at the district that were more important to address than certification.
Zimmerman was also concerned about the rehiring of SRRFP’s former administrative assistant, claiming the job hadn’t been posted publicly before someone was hired. Ewing replied it was a temporary position that would likely only last six months, at which point he said he may not even be with the department anymore.
Several attending members wanted to know what the future of SRRFP’s Citizen Advisory Committee would be, many noting it had become defunct over the last few years. Anton expressed a desire to get citizens involved via the committee moving forward, but as of now also considered the committee defunct.
The board addressed other issues, including the status of the district’s “green” building and cybersecurity on the district’s website, as well as discussing other amenities that could be added to it, such as the weather.
Another major issue the board intends to address is the management of fire hydrants in Seal Rock, many of which have allegedly fallen into disrepair or, at the very least, haven’t been properly flushed in awhile.
Ewing said he will develop a plan to regularly maintain the hydrants, and the influx of returning volunteers might be helpful in that regard.
There was some discussion over who at the department would be the best to take up regular maintenance of the hydrants, whether it should be the full-time firefighters or volunteers. While members of the board argued it would be a good undertaking for full-time staff, both to get practice and to learn the location of hydrants throughout the district, it was noted that it might be difficult to for them to manage with their regular duty schedule, which requires firefighters to be ready to respond to calls at any time.
Finally, the board addressed how it would go about replacing Joll, whose term would likely be filled via appointment by the rest of the board. A post regarding the vacant seat will be posted on the district’s website.
"seal" - Google News
October 20, 2021 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/3m1iZvy
Seal Rock fire board discusses district's future | News | newportnewstimes.com - Newport News Times
"seal" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3c1qdrW
https://ift.tt/2SzWv5y
No comments:
Post a Comment