The Mountain-Ear
The voice of the Peak to Peak
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| High Country firefighters demand action |
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| Written by administrator | |
| Tuesday, 24 November 2009 | |
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Barbara Lawlor GILPIN COUNTY Although the High Country Fire Protection District Board of Directors carried on their monthly board meeting as usual, it was hard for them to ignore the gorilla in the room. Volunteer firefighters and district residents had shown up to be heard and to get some answers. Before the end of the meeting, they were said to be acting like "kindergartners," told not to use the word "transparency," and ordered not to video tape the meeting. At last month’s meeting, a group of people attended the meeting to ask the board for High Country Business Manager Shelia Kambic’s resignation after she had pleaded guilty to First Degree Official Misconduct by a public official paid by the taxpayers. The public never had a chance to speak. Last March Kambic wrote a letter to the Gilpin County Motor Vehicle Department saying that a firefighter had completed his training and was an approved firefighter and eligible for a special license plate. She signed High County Fire Chief Richard Bulich’s name to the document. Chief Bulich reviewed the request and said the firefighter in question was a trainee and was not eligible for a fighter’s license. When asked about the signature, Kambic said she never intended anything criminal, that she was never told a trainee couldn’t have a license plate. She thought it was okay to sign Bulich’s name to the application. As a result, she was charged with forgery, but pleaded to the lesser charge of Misconduct by a public employee. In October Kambic was sentenced to six months probation and 50 hours of community service. Judge Fred Rodgers also advised the High Country Board of Directors that they had the right to remove Kambic from her position, but that he could not. Although he advised them that they should take care of the matter, the HC BOD stated that they would take no action. In the past couple of months, a petition was circulated among firefighters and residents asking for the board to remove Kambic from office. They had planned to do that at the last meeting, but they arrived a few minutes late for public comment and didn’t have a chance to bring up the matter. Last Wednesday, they were half an hour early, ensuring their right to have their say. The agenda included three separate executive sessions: one with the attorney and the board; one with the attorney and Kambic and HC fire chief Richard Bulich and the third was dependent on the outcome of the second. The board opened the public discussion. HC firefighter John Carder said he disagreed with the board’s proposal that HC and Colorado Sierra should split the cost of the merger 50/50. He showed them an analysis that he considered to be more fair, saying that HC brings in 84 percent of the tax revenue while CS brings in 16 percent. Carder explained that it costs $380 every time a firefighter responds to a call and that having CS firefighters also responding to a call made the 80/20 split a bargain. He said the difference in cost would be $24,000 and that in 2008, they had paid Kambic $33,353 for her part-time position. “You can afford it,” he said. “You need to pay your fair share of the merger.” He also accused the board of not doing a thorough investigation of the charges against Kambic. “By not dealing with it you have lost the trust of the community.” The board barely acknowledged Carder’s statement and went on to discuss the proposed budget. There were no copies available for the public. Board member John Rittenhouse said expenditures exceeded revenues by $21,000 in the general fund and $23,000 in the capital fund. It was also stated that the business manager’s salary was 37 percent of last year’s budget. During the chief’s report, Richard Bulich said he met with the commanding officers and they came up with two priorities: to hire a paid chief and to make Station I on Colo. 72 safe or move it. Bulich said that the $80,000 proposed for a stairway at Station 3 could be eliminated by putting in a safety ladder for a fire escape. A budget workshop was proposed before Dec. 15 when the budget had to be approved. During the Timberline Fire Authority report, Board chair Paul Britton went back to the cost of the merger split, saying that if High Country pays 80 percent and the merger doesn’t go through, HC would be out the money spent. “I can’t see spending $70,000 to get a merger done when we can operate under an IGA forever.” Attorney Mark Cohen said the merger would cost significantly less if Colorado Sierra would agree to dissolve. Director John Rittenhouse said that the TFA was not ready to commit to a dissolution/inclusion agreement, that more information was needed, but they were receptive to the concept. During the chief’s report, Bulich said he was concerned with the delay of progress of Station I and said the best option was putting up a retaining wall and rebuilding where it is. He also said that he put the offer to give away trucks that weren’t being used to neighboring fire districts and Nederland Fire Chief Rick Dirr has asked for Tender 2 and Rescue 2. Central City also wants a tender, an engine and a brush truck. The board decided Nederland would get the tender and if Central City has a grant for equipment, they would also get the rescue truck. Nederland has a 1967 two-wheel drive tender that is known as the five-mile wonder. Chief Dirr told Bulich that he wanted to use the rescue truck to carry their rescue boat. The board approved a motion that whoever took the equipment had to keep it and use it for at least a year before selling it. Chief Bulich reported that insurance companies had come to him asking if property owners had adequate access to their property, looking for mitigation approval. “We can’t make statements about that even though it seems some people can’t get insurance without it.” Business manager Kambic reported that Chief Bulich was applying for a grant to buy new GPS units, two for each station because the old ones don’t work in the trees. It was also reported that the door of Station 4 was injured. It would cost $750 to repair it and no one has any recollection of hitting it. Since there was no report, the district would have to pay to have it fixed. Board member Roger Durham said a report should be made so insurance would cover it. When a member of the public asked why they couldn’t have a copy of the budget, they were told that people had to come in to look at it; that handing out a proposed budget is against the policy. Durham said, “We need to follow policy until we change the policy.” Chief Bulich asked why they wouldn’t want to hand out copies and property owner Judd Motchan offered to make copies and have them available, the board said that people had to come in. When a few people shook their heads and chuckled over the decision, board member John Rittenhouse responded indignantly, telling the audience that they were giggling like kindergartners. Magnolia Road resident Greg Ching told the board that most organizations put documents on line for people to see, and Motchan added that not handing out copies of the budget didn’t seem very transparent. And the public had a right to see it, that it was their money. Rittenhouse snapped that he never wanted to hear the word "transparent" at one of their meetings again. “If someone wants to see the budget, they can come in and look at it during business hours. This is the way it has always been." The board then went into executive session for personnel issues and legal advice. Chief Bulich stated that when the session involving him came up he wanted to have it open to the public. Kambic said she wanted hers to be private. When Greg Ching asked the board if he could videotape the proceedings, he was told that the board had decided there was to be no video recorders or cameras. The public was asked to leave the room while the board and attorney Mark Cohen went into executive session. As the public waited in the fire engine bays, Ching looked up laws on videotaping public meetings and discovered that one board was faced with a lawsuit after denying a meeting to be taped. During this time, Chief Bulich said he was eager to discuss the Kambic conviction in public. “I have nothing to hide,” he told the public. When the meeting was reconvened, Ching informed that board that video taping should be allowed in a public forum, and he was told again, that the board had decided not to allow it. The board then voted again to go into executive session with Bulich and Kambic. Once again the public waited in the bays. Around 11:30, they were called back into the meeting room, expecting to hear some sort of decision. Instead, the board reconvened and then abruptly adjourned, saying they would come up with a statement soon. Having waited for hours for some sort of resolution, a disgruntled group of people went home. After the meeting Chief Bulich said he was disappointed that the board isn’t taking action concerning the Kambic conviction. “There is no way around this. She played favorites and it is clear that she supported one firefighter over another. She committed an act that gave her or someone else personal gain. She should have said she was sorry and she shouldn’t have done it.” Bulich said he wasn’t optimistic over the outcome of the issue, but he would continue to stand up for what’s right. He said that in spite of all the politics going on, the young firefighters who will run the department in the future are getting valuable training and there are more responding to the calls. “The firefighters are doing well. They laugh, have a great time and work hard. I’m not in this for me. This is not about me. We need to have a paid chief with no political baggage and we need to listen to the public.” As of Sunday night, the High Country Board of Directors has not issued a statement on the outcome of the executive session. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 December 2009 ) |
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