Community group keeps heat on Anderson fire district

ON THE LINE:
From left, Paul Bosetti, Marsha Kelley, chair Keith Webster, vice chair Norma Comnick and Butch Schaefer.

Although no one from newly-formed Anderson citizens group, Concerned Citizens for a Fair Local Government, addressed the Anderson Fire Protection District board at the July 7 meeting, Fire Chief Joe Piccinini’s resignation on that date has not ended the group’s investigations into management practices of the fire board.

“The group was not formed to protect the fire chief,” group member Debe Hopkins said. “That’s a misconception. (The investigation) was just the catalyst that threw us together.”

The group of Anderson residents formed for a variety of reasons, Janaye Hinsley said, beginning with the allegedly unnecessary expenses incurred by the district’s hiring of Neil Purcell, an out-of-state investigator and previous employee of the City of Anderson.

“(Purcell’s expenses include) weeks of hotel bills, food bills, gas and insurance for a vehicle that we should not have had to use,” Hinsley said. “I have spoken to some local investigators and they were completely surprised that they were not asked to give a quote. We feel that was a complete misuse of our tax dollars.”

Fire district board chairman Keith Webster said Purcell would charge $10,000 to $20,000 for his work in the investigation. The receipts will be publicized at the board’s next meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, at the district headquarters, 1925 Howard St., Anderson

The group also questioned the timing of the investigation.

“Chief Piccinini’s evaluations were positive until the very last one,” Hinsley said, “then all of a sudden he was a such a terrible person that he needed firing. Were there things (the board) wasn’t looking into that they should have — whether things he was changing that were habit in the district? That we are still sorting through,” Hinsley said.

Webster said Thursday that he was instructed by district counsel not to comment on the investigation or any of its purported findings.

Hinsely said she personally had witnessed district fire fighters using a district truck for the personal benefit of fire board member Norma Comnick. The firefighters, Hinsley said, moved items for Comnick’s yard sale.

“We’re paying people to set up a private yard sale?” questioned Hinsley.

Comnick did not respond to a phone call on Thursday.

The July 14 board meeting would include an open session discussion of changes in board policies, Webster said, referring to it as a brain-storming session. He added that policies regarding the use of district vehicles needs to be “tightened up,” although he added he had not previously heard of Comnick’s alleged use of district resources for a yard sale.

The group also took exception to the firefighters’ vote of no confidence of the fire chief that Captain Jason Bellinger reported to the board.

“We have firefighters literally afraid for their jobs if they didn’t agree with the union,” Janaye Hinsley said. “If they don’t go along with the vote of no-confidence towards Piccinini that they would have been out of a job.”

According to Hinsley, a firefighter she did not identify said, “‘I’m stuck. I either go with what they want or I start looking for a job. In this economy, only God knows when I’d be able to find one.’”

As stated in Bellinger’s report, three fire fighters abstained from the vote, while 23 voted no confidence in the former chief, acting Fire Chief Andy Nichols responded when asked whether some of the firefighters did not want to side with the vote of no confidence.

After growing up in Anderson, Hinsley, a former school teacher at Bethel Christian School said, “I’m now old enough to look at how the town will be for my children and I see things I don’t feel are right. If I want them to have the kind of Anderson I grew up in, it’s time to take a stand.”

Although there has been some interest expressed by community watchdog group members in attaining a seat on the soon-to-be publicly elected fire district board, Hinsley said none of the 25 members of the group have formally announced their intention to run. The candidate filing period for the Nov. 3 special districts election opens Monday, July 13 and ends Aug. 7, according to Cathy Darling, Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters.

The July 14 board meeting would also entail a closed-session discussion regarding a new fire chief, Webster said.