Burning issue: Feud over fire department leadership not yet settled
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, 11:22 p.m. (REVISED Jan. 25, 2012 8:40 am.) — The Bardstown City Council met in a two-hour executive session Tuesday evening in a matter related to the recent election of fire chief and the selection of chief for the city fire department. The council emerged from the lengthy session to announce no action was taken.
MARLIN HOWARD
Since Monday, Jan. 16th, the two fire departments housed at the city’s main firehouse – the city-funded Bardstown Fire Department, and the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department Inc. – have different chiefs for the first time in memory.
First Assistant Chief Marlin Howard — a city employee — was elected chief of the incorporated fire department (known as “the corporation”) at the Jan. 16th meeting, while Anthony Mattingly remains chief of the Bardstown Fire Department. Both fire departments are manned by the same firefighters and share the same quarters on North Fifth Street. The biggest difference is funding: taxes pay for the city fire department, while fire dues are the funding source for the “corporation.”
The council’s executive session Tuesday was called pursuant to KRS 61.810 (1)(f): “Discussions which might lead to the appointment, discipline or dismissal of an individual employee without restricting that employee’s right to a public hearing if requested.” It wasn’t specified, but the implication was the session was connected with the fire chief election. Neither fire chief — Bardstown Chief Mattingly nor corporation Chief Marlin Howard — stayed in the council chambers for the closed session, leaving only Sheckles, the council, city attorney Tom Donan and assistant city administrator Larry Green.
At the end of the two-hour session, Mayor Bill Sheckles announced a special meeting was set for 5 p.m. Thursday with a second executive session with the same focus as Tuesday’s. He said when the council comes out of executive session Thursday evening, the council will be asked to vote on an ordinance that addresses the hiring of the chief of the city fire department.
According to the current city ordinance 36.12, the selection of chief begins with an election by firefighters. The name of the winner is submitted as a recommendation to the mayor, who makes the appointment with the approval of the City Council. If the recommendation is rejected or the chief is removed, the ordinance calls for a new election by the firefighters to select a new chief.
Sheckles did not elaborate on the changes he wants to make to the ordinance, but it apparently will clarify the selection of chief of the city fire department.
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