May 13, 2008 06:34 am
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By JASON MICHAEL WHITE
INGALLS — A firefighter went outside, got his fire equipment and tossed it to the sidewalk after listening to the Town Council fire his chief.
But what remains unclear is whether the council had the legal right to oust the chief of a volunteer department. The fate of the department is also uncertain since no one is running it.
Town Council members Monday voted 3-1 to fire Fire Chief Josh Benson, citing concerns about horseplay at the fire station that he failed to address. Councilwoman Cheryl Martin voted against the motion, because she did not believe the council had the right to fire the chief of a volunteer department.
The council majority said the firing was valid, because Benson was the head of a town department and compensated by the town.
Councilman Tim Green offered to make Assistant Chief Daniel Robnolte the acting head of the department until volunteer firefighters could appoint a replacement. But Robnolte was quick to shoot the offer down.
“I‘m not interested in it,” he said. “What you guys are doing isn’t right.”
Firefighter Josh Caudill agreed. The volunteers at the department are responsible for voting in the chief and voting him out, he said. He questioned the council’s reasons for wanting Benson gone.
“We want to know why,” he said. “We think it’s a personal vendetta.”
Green was quick to defend the council’s decision.
“If you want to say it’s a personal vendetta, you’re wrong,” he said. “I like the guy.”
About a week ago, the council met in executive session with Benson to discuss concerns about the fire department. The department was not being run professionally and had problems with horseplay and teens using the station as a party house, Green said.
The council made a list of suggested improvements for the department, and not a single suggestion was followed, Green said. Councilwoman Joye Orr visited the station three days after Benson was given the list, and conditions were worse instead of better, Green said.
He did not elaborate on the horseplay, because he did not want to publicly belittle Benson.
Benson was not at the meeting. Robnolte said the allegations against the department were not true, and said the council was blowing things out of proportion.
“These people are wrong,” he said of the council majority. “They’re crazy.”
His wife sometimes visits him at the station, and firefighters sometimes have their girlfriends visit, but this is allowed, and should be permitted, he said.
The town may find itself without a fire department because of the council’s actions on Monday, firefighters said. No one is running the department.
Town officials plan to contact Pendleton and Fortville fire officials to inform them of the situation and let them know Ingalls may need assistance with fire safety.
Meanwhile, the town attorney plans to investigate whether the Town Council had the legal right to fire the volunteer fire department’s chief.
Benson has to turn in his town-owned jeep and keys to the town police chief by noon today, according to a motion that Martin voted against.
Also, the council voted 3-1 to eliminate the town’s fire safety administrator position, which was created and given to Benson by the council in February, about three months after fire volunteers made him their chief. Martin voted against the motion.
Council President Doug Dowden was absent from the meeting.
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