34 volunteer firefighters resign
Issues arise over concerns with chief Gary Pollard
BY ANGELA GARY AND CHRIS BRIDGES
A large percentage of the county’s volunteer firemen officially turned in their resignation Tuesday night during the Banks County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Following the reading of a prepared statement from John Creasy, spokesman for the volunteers, 33 volunteers, along with members of their families and supporters stood up and left the full Banks County courtroom where the meeting was being held.
Originally Richard Crowder was on the public comment portion of the meeting but he turned his time over to Creasy, who also resigned his position following the reading of a prepared statement.
Creasy said since Dec. 5, 2007, the volunteers have tried to resolved what they consider “significant safety issues over demotion without cause of all volunteer officers as well as training problems and overall poor management of the department.”
In his statement, Creasy also said: “We see the current fire chief Gary Pollard as being at the heart of all our major concerns. Commission chair Gene Hart has made it clear that Gary Pollard will remain as chief of this department. In a recent letter to all personnel we were advised to quit if we felt we couldn’t work with Chief Pollard.”
Following his statement, Creasy said he was sad to see the issue reach this point.
“We also hate this,” Hart said. “However, we aren’t going to get into a debate about this tonight.”
Creasy said he and the other volunteers had each turned in their radios and other related equipment. He handed a stack of resignations letters to the BOC.
Creasy also spoke of a “failed audit” by the Banks County department by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council.
“It is our hope and prayers that the citizens of Banks County will now step up and ask the commissioners what is really going on,” Creasy said.
The firemen have been meeting behind the scenes with county officials, as well as corresponding by letter, since December and decided to take this drastic step when their issues were not addressed.
“We’re deeply concerned about the safety of the firefighters — both paid and volunteer,” Creasy said before the meeting. “We are also concerned about the safety of citizens. We’re not doing this because we’re angry. We’ve been unable to fix what we see as an obvious problem in a good department. We’ve tried to bring the problem of poor management to the commissioners.”
Creasy said Hart has not addressed concerns from the firemen about chief Gary Pollard.
“Gene Hart won’t listen to the issues,” Creasy said. “He’s adamant that we have to work with Gary Pollard. Gene Hart is adamant that Gary Pollard be in charge. It leaves us at an impasse.”
Creasy said the volunteers felt they had no other option except resigning.
“If we don’t bring attention to this issue, it is not going to get resolved,” Creasy said. “There is noting else we can do at this point.”
Creasy also said he has been “shocked and disappointed” on the personal attack that Hart has made against him. Hart has blamed Creasy for the controversy surrounding the fire department.
Creasy also said Banks County reportedly failed a Jan. 3 audit conducted by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council. Executive director Lyn Pardue would not confirm that the department failed but he did confirm that an audit was done on Jan. 3 and a follow-up would be necessary. Follow-ups are usually conducted to determine whether failures of the department noted in the previous audit have been corrected.
Pardue refused to elaborate on the problems Banks County had in the the Jan. 3 audit. However, sources say that Pollard hiring a convicted felon, which is a violation of the state code.
Other concerns which some firefighters say may lead to a state investigation of the Banks County Fire Department include training conducted by people who are not certified and a trained burn that did not meet state requirements.
Pollard said on Tuesday that the fire department did not fail the audit.
“It was not an audit,” he said. “We called the state up here to answer some questions and show us some direction on some things because we had a new training officer. While they were here, they did some practicals at the station like they do at all fire departments in the state. They are returning this month to do practicals with all three shifts. They are hitting departments all over the state with this. They did have some questions about some things they were told that were not true.”
CONCERNS AIRED IN DECEMBER
The issue was first made public through a Dec. 11, 2007, letter sent to the three commissioners. It was signed by 34 of the 44 volunteer firemen.
“Chief Pollard’s policies of favoritism, secrecy and deception are tearing at the very fabric of our beloved department,” the letter read. “Chief Pollard has now chosen to dissolve the volunteer leadership by demoting all volunteer officers…To ignore the wealth of knowledge and experience our current volunteer officers have is potentially life threatening.”
The volunteers emphasized in the letter that the issue is not one of paid firemen verses volunteer firemen. Instead, one of the main concerns has been over the volunteer battalion chiefs being demoted to lieutenants.
The volunteers asked the commissioners to immediately stop Pollard from making any personnel changes and to immediately replace him. At the time the letter was written, the volunteers threatened to resign as of Jan. 1 if the issues were not addressed. They held off on resigning after the BOC agreed to look into their concerns. However, a March 6, 2008, letter sent to the firemen strongly supported Pollard and indicated that no changes would be made.
“As the chief, Gary has the full support and backing of the board of commissioners,” the letter states. “Decisions made by Chief Pollard regarding the training and activities of the Banks County Fire Department will be supported by the board of commissioner…If anyone has any reason to think they can not work under the leadership and guidance of Chief Pollard in his efforts of resolving all issues and leading the fire department to the next step, they certainly have the right to resign their position with Banks County, whether it be paid staff or volunteer staff.”
In this letter, signed by county personnel officer, Judy Greer, it states that the benefits for the firefighters will remain the same and they will continue to be paid per call.
