To: Mehlville Fire District Board of Directors and Chief James Silvernail,
Having requesting Chief Silvernail's last several contracts under Missouri's Sunshine Law, I have some questions about them.
1. The latest contract which was approved Oct. 29th by the BOD is dated 4/4/2008. I assume this is a clerical error. I would like a new copy after it is corrected.
2. As I understand it, the Chief agreed to a two year contract starting 4/25/08 at $100,000 a year and $11,000 in lieu of pension. Then, on Oct 29th it was changed to $103,000 and $11,330 again beginning 4/25/08. This would be a gift to give a salary increase for time already completed and a violation of Missouri statutes.
3. Also, 3.g it appears another gift was given to Chief Silvernail in the form of payment of legal expenses, "including litigation prior to this agreement."
4. It appears the district violated the Sunshine Law in not stating that the were going into closed session to discuss hiring, firing, etc. I can't be sure of this because the district does not take take minutes of the meetings, nor provide them, in violation of Missouri's Sunshine Law and 321.200.
Please provide some explanation for what appears to be egregious and wilful violations of Missouri's laws.
Mike Heins
31 comments:
Mike, I too have a question for the board. Why are they hiring people from other "smaller" districts who have been fired for giving the wrong drugs to patients and who have lied about it? This really scares me as a citizen in the area. I also heard a little rumor they are going to start hiring EMT's again? I wonder why?
You SHOULD be scared. They're advertising for hire. All they require is a pulse and the minimum EMT license. For this once proud district, it's truly pathetic. But then again, treat people like shit and reap what you sow. No one worth a damn wants to work for these jerks.
Mr private DICK WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT STATE LAWS. Just because you are a phony so called writer of shit does not mean you know shit IDIOT.
10:15
I know quite a bit about state laws as they pertain to public and quasi-public entities and how they conduct business. I think if you'd contact Mr. Matt Hoffman, MFPD'd attorney, or call the district's record custodian, they'll tell you that they agree with me. I've had to correct numerous violations by the district over the last year. I write and you read. There's nothing phony about that. I strongly disagree with your last sentence. If you read my profile, you'll see I've had plenty of opportunities to get to know shit in my lifetime, often cleaning it up when it hit the fan.
Mike,
You're my hero.
Thanks, but I'm nobody's hero. I Know a few and I don't measure up. Actually, the term hero is far to overused in our society. It should be reserved for those who risk their life on the line to save others,period.Often we here folks praise all firefighters or policemen as heroes. This blanket statement isn't accurate. And by overstating their heroism, we don't reflect on the actual sacrifices they make in service to their communities. This goes for a number of professions such as teaching, social workers and clergy.
Mike, I know you have posted the questions on this website, which is great for us all to read. But, were you able to send these questions to the board and/or the Chief to review? Did you give them a time line as to which to respond by? Thanks for the hard work.
10:23 Thanks. I sent this to the BOD and the chief prior to my posting it. I did not give them a timeline but I would expect them to reply within three business days. Look for an update by Wednesday.
Two more guys bailed from the fire department last week before their time. Couldn't stomach the crap any longer. Another 50 years of wisdom, leadership and service flushed away. The experience drain is devastating morale and compromising the safety of personnel and citizens.
As one of the 'New' employees I would like to say that upon finding out that the Administration would not let the firefighters take a truck 1/2 mile out of the ditrict to pay there respects to a 39 year employee who passed away shows me that the employees rank at the very bottom of the department! It's just distgusting! The Chief and the Asst Chief need to grow a spine!
BTW Thanks for getting me into the fire accademy!
I WILL be looking for employment at a good fire department now!
It's a shame that when I graduated highschool and set my sights on working for a great department like mehlville then finally got hired that I was awoken to the hfact the Mehlville Fire has become the worst to work for!
7:57: Good, go elsewhere and don't let the door hit you on the way out!
On 5:43's comment is just the type of feeling you get from the BOD's attitude. They could care less aboutthe quality of their personnel. Or it may just be some prick stirring the pot. None the less who cares.
I think its time for a private fire service in Mehlville. Lets keep the ambulances but get rid of the cry babies.
Heins
Your wife has got to be very dissatisified. You are a phony news man, Phony lawer, Phony hero and you have to be a phony lover.
Dear 7:57,
Do you think that is the way to handle poor moral at a place of employment!?!?
It's obvious that you have no management experience! We're not talking about McDonalds! This is a place where life and death can start or end a day!
8:35 You must have some issues thinking about my love life. I could recommend a therapist but you'd say I was a phony doctor.
You think a private fire dervice is the answer! - HA!
Thats all we need another individual in charge that only cares about the bottom line and stock holders and not the citizen.
Do a little bipartisan research before you open your trap! That means both sides in case your to idiotic to understand.
Maybe Hilmer has a buddy that owns a fire truck or two that he could shovel more tax money to. Hmmmmmmmm!
5:43 Do you live in the district? Because if you dont why are you worried about it. If you do will you not be the first one there to complain when you need the fire department and a bunch of new guys show up that dont know what they are doing? I know your not ever going to need them. Heck they make their carriers out of helping people that think they will never need to call 911. Its sad
I vote for firing all the malcontented jerks at MFPD and replacing them with fresh cross-trained firefighter/EMT-Ps.
4:36 What a superb suggestion! The most malcontented jerks in the organization are the board of defectors and the administration. Let's indeed begin by firing them so we can start to rebuild a quality fire service beginning with the retention of the experienced, well-trained personnel we already have and try to recover the excellent reputation this fire district once had. Then we might be able to demand and acquire quality applicants rather than the current crop who are only half-trained problems from some other service.
Do you really think the old guys no what they are doing. I don't think so.
If that where the problems, why did the public vote Hilmer, Stegman and Ryan in over the past board and the other idiot that ran.
The public is woefully and sadly, very often WILLFULLY, misinformed. Too few residents are registered voters and too may registered voters are lazy. They effectively disenfranchise themselves through apathy. They gobble the spoon-fed puree which arrives in the mailbox (The Call, campaign propaganda) because it is free and far easier than seeking or demanding accurate information. They never attend public meetings. They will claim they don't have the time, but these are the things which affect their lives on a daily basis. Local government, the school district, the fire district. If you can't drum up a wee bit of interest in the things which directly impact your life, maybe you need to reassess.
In the case of psycho trust fund baby Hilmer, and loosey goosey Stegman, Mehlville voters (and those who couldn't be bothered) have gotten exactly what they asked for and exactly what they DESERVE. It just hasn't dawned on them yet. But it will.
8:58 pm - I really do think the older guys know what they're doing. I base this opinion on the fact that they received the same basic fire education the new folks have along with something they don't have - many, many years of experience. It's one thing to take someone and put them through 10 or 11 weeks of artificial fire training and call them a firefighter. And they are, at the entry-level position. However, to compare that new person to someone with 10 or 15 years experience - fighting any number of residential and commercial structure fires; responding to traffic accidents and medical emergencies; attending hundreds of hours of additional training, both in-house and outside seminars and yes, I would say they were the superior employee. Will the younger employee achieve that level of understanding? Yes, eventually. However, they need someone there to help train and guide them along the way. That is why the loss of senior personnel on both sides (fire and EMS) is a disaster for this community. There is an ongoing hemmorhage of institutional knowledge from this organization and a rush by the administration of this fire district to move these new people into positions of greater responsibility when they hardly know the jobs they applied for. Half-trained emergency response personnel are a disaster in the making, whether the event is a fire, a rescue, or a medical emergency.
8:37 pm Amazingly, there weren't employee problems when Hilmer and Stegmann were elected. Those issues began shortly after they arrived. As for why the public elected them over the previous board - well you would have to ask someone who voted for them. I can only speculate but would think those voters only heard the words tax decrease. In comparison, I don't think Mr. Skelton did too badly given he was a last minute write-in candidate when the evidence seems to point to smear campaign on someone's part to threaten the employment of the original Democratic candidate.
8:37- Because of the lies and the half truths.
I agree with 8:37 the citizens have spoken and want reform. The self serving are the ones that want the board and administration out. Well you people don't count.
8:37 The voters have spoken but I don't think they represented the majority of the registered voters nor the residents of the district. They have placed the current directors in office in low turn-out elections after having been served half truths by the local paper,although I hate to degrade newspapers by including the Call as one,in conjunction with the local Republican Party and the Homebuilders Association. If the majority of the people were informed, I'm sure they wouldn't want a fire chief to be hired who was charged with harassing his former employer. They probably would also be concerned to find out he plead guilty to those charges after being hired by the Mehlville Fire District. This is the same guy who supposedly supervised an investigation that lead the firing of the firefighter association's leaders. Then we have the the firefighter's pension funds turned over to a BOD's friend whose home had federal tax liens against and had a felony arrest record. I'm guessing most people have no idea how much their being mislead about the qualifications of the newer staff arriving on emergency scenes in the district. If they understand, they will demand change.
I sure hope your not the one to fix the problem like you did with the School District's problems. You broke more laws then Hilmer ever thought of.
Which laws did I break?
I have to dispute you, the Chief did not have anything to do with the investigation on the two employees. In fact the present administration was not even privy to the results of the investigation. Mike you really need to get your facts straight before sounding off. You know very little about what you are talking about and someday will pay for it with slander.
He's still the Chief of the department and his contract says it's his responsibility.It's amazing that the administration knew nothing about the investigation, but James Stonebraker and the Truth Spot said they did. I won't slander anybody. The truth is much more interesting and I use my name on this blog, unlike others. The chief should be more embarassed about his arrest and conviction than my writings.
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