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Page 42
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
September 13, 2013
on numbers. Dean obliged, and questioned the BFC’s fiscal responsibility, citing alleged expenses like chrome wheels on the chief’s vehicle and “$70,000 on an unwarranted security system.” Purnell spoke up at this juncture and assured Dean that the council had “every expenditure and every check” that the BFC has made recently and are aware of all of the finances. Fitzgerald seconded Purnell’s comment. “They have the checkbook for three years … we’re as transparent as we can be,” said the BFC president. Dean refrained from finishing his remarks, but did make a written statement available to the media. In it, he further accuses the company of misconduct in the treatment of himself and Tyndall. He also references a car accident that was investigated by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) this winter, blaming the BFC for the fatality. However, it should be noted that the MIEMSS investigation found pre-hospital emergency services and transportation were up to par and the company was not at fault in that fatality, though they did find “significant, underlying tensions surrounding the delivery of medical services in Berlin.” Dean also alleged that MIEMSS urged the Berlin council to take care of its own EMS service instead of relying on the BFC, with the state agency even offering to help facilitate the transition. But Williams flatly denied Dean’s claim and said that in neither written nor verbal correspondence did MIEMSS ever suggest that the town take over EMS services and definitely did not offer to help make that a reality. Though Dean’s allegations didn’t gain traction at Monday’s meeting they are expected to turn up again in court, with Dean filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Should the EEOC support his claims, it will almost certainly lead to a lawsuit. Tyndall is further along that track and has an $8 million lawsuit pending against the BFC. For its part, the BFC has publically promised in a letter to residents not to use town funding for legal defense with the pending lawsuit but will instead take care of that with insurance. Williams said this week that he’s ready to take the company on its word in that regard and imagines the public backlash should that not be the case would be harsh.
. . Berlin Council Reduces Fire Company Funds To $200K
FROM PAGE 7 ment is always in flux and that his firefighters already have to make do with decades old vehicles and gear that is tolerable but could be much better. That may be but the BFC needs to learn to prioritize so service isn’t impacted, replied Councilman Troy Purnell, even if that means waiting to expand with new stations or cutting back on non-essentials. “You have the money to do that and our accountant is saying that. Don’t tell me you don’t have the money for that,” he told Helmuth. Helmuth responded that he was only trying to lay out the challenges the diminished funding represented and that the council should trust the BFC to make those judgment calls. “We run our business and you run your business. We don’t go by McDonalds and tell them to buy a new fryer,” he said. However, the council has made it clear that it does intend to take a more active role in reviewing how the BFC budgets. The town will make any future funding contingent upon an annual audit of the company’s finances. Even if the company can get by on $200,000 in funding from the town for
the time being, BFC accountant Jay Bergey argued that it is entitled to more. About 58 percent of the BFC’s annual EMS service calls come from Berlin. Because EMS is a roughly $1 million annual cost, that means Berlin is getting about $600,000 worth of benefit despite only paying $200,000 and that $200,000 is actually split between funding EMS and fire service, he said. “The town of Berlin has never paid its fair share in paying for what the town of Berlin uses,” Bergey said. Williams promised that the town would like to restore more funding than this year’s initial $200,000 to the company in the future dependent upon those audits and the level of cooperation with the BFC. “It is not our intention or our desire to keep funding at this level,” said the mayor. At this point, the meeting nearly wrapped. However, both the town and BFC were reminded of the origins of their dispute when Jeff Dean, a former EMT with the town of Berlin, made a statement imploring the council not to return any funding to the BFC at this time. It was allegations of harassment made by Dean and his colleague Zack Tyndall last year that led the town to investigate the BFC, the first link in a chain reaction that caused funding to be withdrawn and metaphorical fences built. “You have called for public comment to guide you as you consider returning the funding you withheld last year from the Berlin Fire Company after Zack Tyndall and I and several others disclosed evidence of racial and sexual harassment, sexual assault, retaliation and corruption within the Berlin Fire Company,” said Dean. Dean’s remarks were vocally objected to by the audience, which included a full house of fire company members and supporters who had been silent up until that point. Several audience members asked Williams to stop Dean while others complained that his harassment allegations were off topic for the meeting, which revolved around funding. Joe Moore, attorney for the BFC, echoed that opinion. “Respectfully, we were told that tonight was in regard to our funding and not to discuss pending potential litigation or otherwise,” he reminded the council. Williams agreed that Dean’s comments were not germane to the matter at hand and asked that he only focus
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