Fire Chief Howard fired after dispute over fire department’s operation
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, 2 p.m. (UPDATED 5 p.m.) — Bardstown Fire Chief Marlin Howard was terminated Wednesday by Bardstown Mayor John Royalty.
According to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, Royalty had asked Howard Tuesday for his resignation; when Howard refused, he was fired Wednesday morning effective immediately.
Royalty has appointed firefighter Charles Montgomery as interim Bardstown Fire chief. Montgomery has been a volunteer firefighter for 28 years and has been a full-time firefighter with the Bardstown Fire Department for 16 years.
The City of Bardstown will begin the process of hiring a full-time chief by advertising the position. the statement said.
Bardstown Fire Chief Marlin Howard was terminated earlier Wednesday by Mayor John Royalty. (File photo)
Howard sent Royalty a letter Oct. 28, requesting to be moved from chief to firefighter status because he did not share the mayor’s vision of how the fire department should be structured.
Royalty told the Gazette last week he did not accept Howard’s request at that time, and asked him to wait a week to reconsider.
In the Oct. 28 letter, Howard said he did not believe the changes the mayor was asking of the department were “in the best interest of the Department or the community.”
According to Royalty, the dispute is based on his request to have the fire department move from a four-man crew on each shift to a five-man crew. The additional man would allow the city to roll two trucks immediately, Royalty said last week. The move is aimed at lowering the city’s ISO rating, which will presumably result in lower insurance premiums.
When contacted by the Gazette, Howard confirmed he was no longer a city employee and expressed his full confidence in the city’s firefighters ability to continue to provide superior fire protection city residents have come to expect.
Howard was named interim fire chief in January 2012 when a dispute between the volunteer fire department and the city fire department led to the election of two fire chiefs. Then-Mayor Bill Sheckles later selected Howard to continue as the department’s permanent fire chief.
-30-
