Ongoing Fire Department Issues
Wrongful termination suit. Staffing shortage. Budget overruns. New info from BOS.
Issues continue to unfold as a consequence of the town’s termination of its long-term Fire Chief, Jaye Vilchock, and his wife, Fire Lieutenant Sandra Vilchock.
Wrongful Termination Suit Against the Town
The former Fire Chief has exercised his legal right to have a court hearing to overturn his dismissal by the Board of Selectmen. As state law does not stipulate a procedure for such trials, a preliminary hearing was held in Rockingham Superior Court to define how the trial will be conducted.
The result of this preliminary hearing was that the court has stipulated that the burden of proof will be on the plaintiff (the former Fire Chief) who will have to show, based on a preponderance of evidence, that he was wrongfully terminated. Also, since the investigation allowed hearsay evidence, the court will also allow hearsay evidence (weighted appropriately).
According to the plaintiff’s court filing, the cause of the wrongful termination was due to a faulty investigative report that the Board of Selectmen relied upon for their decision. The investigator (Charla Stevens) was hired by the town’s attorney (Upton & Hatfield) to serve as an expert investigator and neutral third party. The plaintiff contends that Stevens conducted an investigation that was neither neutral nor professional: that Stevens accepted uncritically all allegations against the plaintiff and dismissed or avoided investigating evidence that would have exonerated the plaintiff.
In the trial, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate to the court that the investigation was not only done in a flawed and biased way, but that the investigator came to erroneous conclusions.
Thus, the trial will have to re-do the portions of the investigation that the Board of Selectmen relied upon for making their decision to terminate the plaintiff. Unlike the original investigation conducted by Charla Stevens, which was intended to never to be made public, the trial will be open to the public. Not only will the identity of the witnesses and individuals involved not be kept secret, what they say will be under oath and will not be mediated through the investigator’s interpretation.
The trial [Correction: next hearing. A trial date has not yet been set] is scheduled for October 2.
Rockingham Superior Court allows people to watch trials online. I’ll publish access codes for this the day before the trial so that subscribers may watch the trial.
Fire Department Staffing Shortage
At the beginning of the year the Fire Department was managed by a chief, a deputy chief, a captain, and three lieutenants. The town terminated the chief and one of the lieutenants in June. They have not been replaced. The Deputy Chief is now in the role of Acting Chief. There is no one acting as Deputy Chief. One of the remaining two lieutenants has recently resigned. Now only half of the management positions in the Fire Department are staffed.
Staffing shortages afflict the non-management roles as well. Since July 13 the town has been trying to fill roles in the department. The town continues to advertise on the NH Fire Academy website for these open positions, saying it has multiple open positions for full-time firefighters and EMTs, and multiple open positions for per diem firefighters and EMTs.
Fire Department Budget Overruns
A reader has forwarded to me a recent financial statement for the Fire Department. The report is dated August 10, meaning that 60% of the year had passed. So, about 40% of the budget should be remaining at this point. According to this report, the department’s staffing shortages are producing cost overruns. Overtime pay was budgeted at $15k for the year. As of a month ago the department had already spent $42k on overtime pay. Salary expenses for the part-timers are also much higher than they should be at this point in the year. The budget was for $55k, but nearly $41k has already been spent. Offsetting this somewhat is lower than projected salary expenses for the full-time staff. These are about $18.5k below where they should be at this point in the year.
Overall, with respect to the salary and wages portion of the department’s budget, spending has exceeded budget by over $22k. Assuming the excess spending began when the former Fire Chief was put on administrative leave, the Fire Department has been averaging about $4.7k per month over budget for wages.
Letter From Chairman Ben Bartlett
Jaye Vilchock Jr. (the former Fire Chief’s son) has posted on Facebook contents of an email he received from Board of Selectmen Chairman Ben Bartlett in response to questions and requests that he’d made to the Board of Selectmen.
Vilchock had requested more time to address the board, to complete unfinished portions from his lengthy prior address on July 10. Bartlett denied the request, but said he was free to speak during the period reserved for public comment.
Bartlett answered some of Vilchock’s questions.
Q: Why did the town send the Police Chief to serve Lieutenant Vilchock notice of being put on paid administrative leave during the lieutenant’s shift at the fire station?
A: “The Police Chief offered the Fire Chief a ride home the night he was placed on paid administrative leave since he came to the meeting in the department’s utility vehicle. She offered the same to the Lieutenant who was at the Fire Station on duty that evening….. The Police Chief’s involvement was not in an enforcement capacity.”
Q: Why was Lieutenant Vilchock banned from participating in the blood drive that she had been the coordinator for and a donor to for many years?
A: “The blood drive was held at the Fire Station and the Lieutenant was asked to refrain from accessing the Fire Station while the complaint investigation was in process.”
Q: Why didn’t the Board of Selectmen allow the town’s former Fire Chief and Lieutenant to defend themselves to the board regarding the accusations made against them?
A: “The Fire Chief and Lieutenant were given an opportunity to respond to the questions asked during the complaint investigation.”