Howard named fire chief; ordinance eliminates firefighters’ election of chief
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
MARLIN HOWARD
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, 9:30 p.m. — Marlin Howard, the former first assistant chief of the Bardstown Fire Department, is now its interim fire chief. Howard was named interim chief during a special Bardstown City Council meeting Thursday night as firefighters filled the council chambers.
The meeting began with an executive session 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.” Once the council emerged from the closed session, Howard was immediately appointed interim chief to replace Anthony Mattingly, who has served as chief since 2005.
According to Mayor Bill Sheckles, Howard will serve as interim chief during a search for a permanent full-time chief. Mattingly remains a city employee and paid firefighter, he said.
The council set about with unanimous votes for two new ordinances – one that changes the fire chief selection process, and the second to add the fire chief position to the roster of unelected city officials.
Firefighters packed the city council chambers during Thursday night's special meeting. Marlin Howard was named interim chief of the Bardstown Fire Department, and two ordinance were introduced that change the way the city will select its fire chief. The move will require the incorporated fire department to have the same chief.
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. – had different chiefs for the first time. For a time, Howard was chief of the volunteer department, and Mattingly remained chief of the city fire department.
Both fire departments are manned by the same firefighters and share the same quarters on North Fifth Street. The biggest differences are the revenue sources: taxes pay for the city fire department, while fire dues fund the “corporation.”
The firefighters in the audience had some pointed questions about the changes.
The ordinance eliminates the election process for city fire chief; while city government can’t forbid the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department Inc. from holding an election, the city controls the physical location where the fire departments are housed. The ordinance states the volunteer fire department may continue to operate out of city-owned facilities “so long as its chief and officers are the same as those of the City of Bardstown Fire Department.”
Firefighter Justin Brown asks a question during Thursday's city council meeting.
“What it sounds like to me is that our voice has kinda been taken away from us,” Justin Brown told the mayor. “That’s the way I read it.”
Another firefighter noted that the two departments operated under one leadership for years. “You stated here tonight that in order for us to stay in that building, use your equipment and enjoy everything else we do as two different departments, we have to abide by whatever leadership you choose,” he said. “That’s how I heard that ordinance read.”
“You heard it exactly right,” Sheckles replied. “When the ordinance is passed, there will be only one chief from this day forward.”
The new chief will also appoint the officers in the department, Sheckles said.
Howard asked if there would be any mechanism in the ordinance for the firefighters in the corporation to advise the mayor that a change of leadership needs to take place.
The firefighters should direct their concerns to the chief, Sheckles said. “The chief will relay those concerns to me.”
“My concern is that’s where the breakdown happened last time,” Howard said. The recent election result for chief was evidence of the amount of unrest in the fire department, he said.
“You’re interim chief, you take care of it,” Sheckles told Howard.
“But in the future if there’s a chief in that position and the members are not happy, what are they going to do—“
Mayor Bill Sheckles points at Marlin Howard while he questions the mayor about firefighter input to chief selection process outlined in the new ordinances.
“They’re not going to vote him out,” Sheckles injected.
“But you’re not dealing with paid employees, you’re dealing with volunteers, and volunteers will start going home,” Howard said. “I’m talking in the future when I’m not chief.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Sheckles replied. “Right now it sounds like the membership has your back. You’re interim chief unless something else changes — you make it work.”
Sheckles said he didn’t understand all the concern about the two departments. “If you’re a volunteer, you don’t care where you put out fires, you have one thing on your mind – to put the fire out and protect someone’s life or property. What difference does it make if it’s the corporation or the city?”
Another firefighter said the problem they had with the previous chief was that problems they took to him never went anywhere else.
Sheckles said he would keep the lines of communication open, but the chief was still the person to talk to first. “If you have an issue you’re concerned about, be a man or woman about it and go talk to the chief,” he said. “If you can’t work it out with the chief, call me and we’ll talk about it.”
Fire department chaplain Mo Shams said he was glad to hear the lines of communication were open. “I’ve been the type of person that I’ve never allowed my superiors not to listen to me,” he said. “Some of the younger brothers may not have that, but I do.”
Sheckles said the city will advertise the fire chief position and there will be a search process. Councilman Francis Lydian suggested the mayor give firefighters a role in vetting possible candidates for chief.
The ordinances approved Thursday night are scheduled for a second and final reading at the next regular Bardstown City Council council meeting 7 p.m. Feb. 14, 2012, in the City Council Annex building.
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