Fire department to seek new chief as it moves forward with new structure

Bardstown Mayor John Royalty, right, talks with City Attorney Tim Butler. (File photo)

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, 11 a.m. — At a City Hall press conference Friday morning, Bardstown Mayor John Royalty met with the media to discuss his decision to terminate Fire Chief Marlin Howard on Wednesday.

MARLIN HOWARD

Last week, Howard asked to be moved from fire chief to the position of city firefighter after he disagreed with Royalty’s plan to change the fire department’s staffing levels.

The department has 17 employees, with five of them working five-day, eight-hour shifts, and the other 12 working three shifts of 24 hours a day, with 48 hours off between shifts. That created four-man crews available around-the-clock to respond to emergency calls.

Royalty told Howard that reducing the day shift employees to two and adding three employees to the 24/48 rotations would allow the department to have a fifth man on its responding crews, which will create a more effective response.

Howard disagreed with the mayor’s proposal, and when the mayor presented Howard with the paperwork to initiate the requested changes, Howard refused to sign. Royalty said he repeatedly asked Howard to reconsider and give the changes a try.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Howard submitted his letter saying he disagreed with the changes, adding “I can not abide by decisions that have vital impact when I do not feel they are in the best interest of the Department or the community.”

Howard had referred to city ordinances that give the fire chief the authority to determine the department structure and policies. City Attorney Tim Butler said Friday that as fire chief, those duties were indeed part of Howard’s assigned duties, but they were also subject to what the ordinance calls “general executive authority.”

“The general executive authority sits right there,” Butler said, pointing to Royalty sitting at his desk. All city departments have department heads who are responsible to the mayor, which includes the fire chief, he explained. The mayor has the option of being as involved or less involved in each department as he or she see fit.

Howard’s request to move to a firefighter position couldn’t be accommodated because there are no open firefighter positions, Royalty said.

“Marlin Howard and I have been friends and I hope to remain that way,” Royalty said. The issue between them was not personal, he said. In 2012, Royalty said he stood up as a city councilman and supported making Howard the full-time fire chief.

Royalty said he didn’t believe his request to move firefighters to the 24/48-hour shifts was unreasonable.

“To me, it was in the best interest of the public.”

Interim Fire Chief Charles Montgomery said the five-man response would improve firefighter safety by allowing four firefighters to alternate as entry teams on a burning building and still leave a firefighter at the truck to maintain water pressure, supply, etc.

Montgomery said he initially had expressed interest in the chief’s position, but decided to turn the position down in order to leave it open to a new chief who may have more experience in the type of leadership that will help the department meet the mayor’s goals.

Royalty said he will move forward and advertise for a new fire chief.

“I plan to move as quick as possible, and I will get the best and most qualified person to push this fire department forward,” he said, and said the city’s firefighters will be invited to apply.

When asked if the city would contest Howard’s application for unemployment, Human Resources Director Larry Green said that determination of those benefits was up to the unemployment officials once a claim was submitted.

Since the fire department has been operating full-time, Royalty said response times are significantly lower, espeically in the evening and overnight hours.

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