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City opts to dump volunteer fire corps
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published March 8, 2001 SAN ANTONIO -- Mismanagement and a loss of trust on Tuesday drove city commissioners to sever ties with the volunteer fire department that served the city for most of the 20th century. Capping months of wrangling and an ad-hoc committee vote of no confidence in fire chief Troy Newton, commissioners voted unanimously to immediately cut off payments to the San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department until members oust Newton. The city pays the department for fire protection Last year, the city paid $17,000. Commissioners then voted to contract with Pasco County for fire protection, turning over the station used by the volunteers -- but owned by the city -- to the county. The decision could pave the way for the county to take over the entire San Antonio fire district, giving the county a station in northeast Pasco and firming up a commitment to restrict the size of Dade City and Zephyrhills municipal fire districts. Newton, who threatened to resign last month but changed his mind, told commissioners on Tuesday that he planned to merge his department with the county, making it a volunteer arm in support of the full-time crews. He said he expects to merge by March 20. In a letter to commissioners, Newton blamed the decline of his department on a lack of volunteers and a lack of leadership from a board of directors. "After recent chaos, we have come to the conclusion that we will not be able to match the demands of the ever-growing community, due to the lack of citizens in the community who are willing to volunteer," Newton wrote. The commissioners put the blame on Newton. "I cannot work with somebody who continuously lies, and Chief Newton does, and I cannot work with him," Mayor Roy Pierce said. "He is not competent to be chief and he is not competent to be a volunteer firefighter. It besmirches all the good volunteers who are over there." Newton on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing and said Pierce just wanted him out because of personal differences. He has admitted he isn't the best bookkeeper, but he said he did the best he could, despite Pierce's demands. "He asks for one thing, and I give it to him. Then he wants something else," Newton said. "The son of a b---- still ain't happy." Newton said last week he didn't know how much money was in the department's checking account and said the checkbook hadn't been balanced "for some time." The ad-hoc committee made up of Dade City and Zephyrhills fire chiefs and commissioners from Saint Leo and San Antonio, last week released findings showing the department's financial records are a shambles and the department allowed its incorporation to expire while failing to file federal income tax reports dating back to 1994. Pierce pulled no punches on Tuesday, urging Commissioner Dennis Phillips to detail findings of impropriety discussed during the ad-hoc committee meetings. Pierce said he had learned of one instance where Newton had his men use a firetruck to dump water in a field to make a mud bog for trucks. He also said there could be "possibly forged bank records" involved in the department finances. Newton later denied any impropriety and said his men frequently practice using a firetruck's water cannon on private property so as not to dump the water in the city park or on the street. Phillips declined to discuss rumors the committee may have investigated in its six-week probe, but on Wednesday he provided a page of committee notes. The notes show the committee heard reports that Newton pressured department officers to approve purchases and sign checks, used newspapers to circulate stories that the area would be left unprotected, and spent department money when told not to. Phillips' notes also show the committee investigated a lack of accounting and invoices, a missing checkbook, unauthorized use of a department vehicle, "consistent lies and/or exaggeration by Fire Chief," Newton's penchant for blaming others, and purchasing a department vehicle and equipment as tax-exempt entity when the tax-exempt status may have been invalid. The department, with 10 active volunteers, also missed 80 of its 650 calls for service last year, according to the committee's findings. Those calls were answered instead by county or Dade City crews. The volunteer department was incorporated in 1973, but Newton said it has been around in one form or another since at least the 1920s. Newton said he complied with every demand the mayor made. But Pierce said Newton had made a habit out of saying one thing and doing another. Most recently, in a public meeting last week Newton promised to give Pierce a list of active volunteers, with their fire training and experience, by Monday. As of Tuesday night, he had not produced the list. In the past year, Pierce and commissioners repeatedly have said they support the volunteers in the fire department, but had trouble with Newton. When the San Antonio commission voted 4-1 to contract with the county, Phillips was the lone dissenter. He said Wednesday he had mixed feelings about moving ahead so fast in a move that also will probably affect Dade City and Zephyrhills municipal departments. Both departments are paid to protect zones around their cities where county fire protection is unavailable. At stake is $700,000 in county tax money paid to the cities. County commissioners said they will end the arrangement after 2003. The county had planned to build a new department, if needed, to serve the area. Instead, Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson agreed to provide protection for San Antonio, with three full-time staffers on duty around the clock, for $25,000 a year. But the county would also pay the city $9,600 to $12,000 a year to lease the department, depending on who does the maintenance, and may want to build an addition at the station as well. Dade City also offered to provide services, but could not match the county's manpower offer. Johnson said the county would place an ambulance at the station and would provide at least one new firetruck. Newton said his department would sign over its existing fleet to the county, including a 1989 firetruck and a new brush truck bought last year. Tuesday's meeting drew an overflow crowd to City Hall, including three commissioners from neighboring Saint Leo, which also has contracted with the San Antonio volunteers for service. Saint Leo Commissioner Brent Sutton said he expected the issue would be on the agenda for a meeting in his city Monday night. Residents also spoke on behalf of the department's record. "For the past 50 years, we as the citizens of San Antonio have been very appreciative of our volunteers," resident Irene Pike said. "Regardless of what happens, they need to know that." A volunteer appreciation dinner is scheduled for March 31. In other business, San Antonio commissioners approved a 44-home subdivision called Dunne Woods being created by developer Jim Tabb between Michigan and Pennsylvania avenues.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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