By Matt Smith
The Cleburne Times-Review
CLEBURNE, Texas — Johnson County Emergency Services District No. 1 Commissioner Keith Kelly resigned from his position on the JCESD board on Wednesday morning effective immediately.
Kelly served on the JCESD board for seven years. Johnson County Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry Stringer appointed Kelly to the board. JCESD’s five-member board is composed of appointees from each of the four Johnson County commissioners and one appointee from Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon.
JCESD collects property taxes and contracts with most of the fire departments in the county to provide fire and safety services. The ESD distributes taxes and distributes the revenues collected to those fire departments to cover a portion of their operating costs.
Kelly’s resignation follows a recent call for him to step down from members of the Johnson County Emergency Services Association, which is made up of members of Johnson County and area fire departments associated with JCESD.
Bryan Jamison, president of the Johnson County Emergency Services Association, read a letter outlining the group’s grievances with Kelly and a request for him to step down during the Feb. 25 ESD board meeting. No action was taken on the letter at that time and the JCESD commissioners did not otherwise discuss it during the meeting.
Kelly, however, offered a brief comment on the situation after that meeting concluded.
“This is politics so take that for what it is,” Kelly said at the time.
Stringer, who did not attend the Feb. 25 meeting, said the following day that he was aware of the situation and would deal with it in the near future.
Stringer at that time was competing for re-election in the March 1 Republican Primary against fellow Republican Mark Carpenter, a former Precinct 3 county commissioner. Stringer subsequently prevailed over Carpenter in the primary and will stand unopposed in November’s general election.
Kelly on Tuesday afternoon said he regrets his decision to step down but also lives by a “hard and fast rule” not to let politics interfere or hurt the charitable organizations he supports and works with.
The JCESD situation, Kelly said, was beginning to spill over into and adversely affect the Chisholm Trail 100 Club, a group Kelly played a role in bringing to Johnson County and of which he serves as president. That group, through fundraising and other efforts, offers support to first responders injured in the line of duty as well as support to the family members of first responders who are injured or killed in the line of duty.
Kelly, in his Wednesday morning resignation announcement, said that he underwent two surgeries in December and told Stringer at that time to begin looking for his replacement on the board.
“Commissioner Stringer declined at that time to accept my resignation as he was standing for election and did not want to politicize the selection,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, Commissioner Stringer’s opponent, along with outside political and media influences, have been trying to hurt the ESD and upset and redirect the efforts and direction of the ESD. Thankfully, the voters of Precinct 3 saw these negative efforts for what they were and re-elected Commissioner Stinger to serve another four years.
“I am hopeful that my resignation will put an end to the current politicization of the ESD. The citizens of Johnson County deserve better than the threats and lies a select few individuals are spewing about the ESD.”
Stringer on Wednesday confirmed that Kelly did approach him about resigning in December.
“Mr. Kelly did talk with me several weeks ago regarding his resignation from the ESD board, however, after we talked, it was decided that he not resign at that time. I felt that he might recover from his health issues and join me in standing up to do what I felt was the right thing for Johnson County citizens and continue to serve,” Stinger said. “As my re-election campaign grew closer to the election, a vocal portion of the ESD tried to politicize the issue by demanding Mr. Kelly’s resignation. I refused to be forced into a position of the issue being used as a political tool either by me or someone else. Johnson County citizens deserved more.”
Any controversy aside, Kelly said he remains steadfast in his support of the county’s first responders and JCESD.
“I have had the pleasure of serving alongside several outstanding commissioners and citizens over my tenure,” Kelly said. “While we may not always have agreed, the end game of protecting and serving the citizens has always been the guiding light.
“I am and always will be a firm supporter of the first responders of Johnson County. The fire departments and chiefs of the departments are extremely dedicated, committed and unselfish in their service to the citizens of Johnson County. The ESD dispatch center and staff are, in my opinion, the best in the state. Our paid engine crews are excellent and, with the support they provide to the volunteer departments, will ensure that the county can keep its volunteers for decades to come.”
“While I am disappointed in the political theater that we currently are experiencing, these men and women have my utmost respect.”
Kelly listed numerous accomplishments and changes implemented at JCESD during his tenure, including upgrades to the dispatch center, the implementation of paid engine crews to assist the volunteer departments and improve response times, a move to encourage departments to undergo ISO review to reduce homeowner insurance policy rates and moves to increase funding for member departments among other initiatives.
Opposition’s stance
Johnson County Emergency Services Association members, during a Feb. 10 meeting, expressed concern with the amount of the ESD’s reserve fund, which, according to the JCESA letter Jamison read during the Feb. 23 JCESD board meeting, totals about $5 million. That represents a reserve capable of covering about 15 months of operating expenses.
“Many folks mentioned that this is inconsistent with standard best practices, which usually recommend about six months expenses be held back in a reserve fund,” according to the letter.
Concerns directed toward Kelly in the letter include:
-- Too much direct involvement in the day-to-day operation of the ESD.
-- Questionable fiscal policy in regards to the $5 million reserve.
-- Creation of a hostile work environment among ESD staff.
-- Manipulation of ESD board decisions and other ESD commissioners.
-- Failure to follow through on plans made when ESD tax increases were passed
-- Questionable ESD purchasing involving Kelly’s personal business, KMP Graphics.
The purchasing concern refers to Kelly bidding on and/or supplying signs for ESD needs and emergency vehicles through his business.
Stringer addressed that issue when it arose during a September meeting of the Johnson County Commissioners Court.
“Keith is in the graphics business and supplies signage for 90 percent of the emergency vehicles across seven states,” Stringer said during the September meeting.
Kelly in 2013 wanted to bid on a package to supply new signage for the ESD’s emergency vehicles, Stringer said.
“He went to the ESD’s attorney to check as to whether it was OK for him to bid on the project,” Stringer said during the September meeting. “The attorney studied the question and told Keith that as long as he followed all the procedures he was legal in doing so. So the ESD’s attorney blessed that and even wrote a letter to that effect.”
Additional controversy followed after Kelly wrote the specs for the signage, specs addressing the reflectivity, durability and other aspects of the signs for the vehicles.
Kelly, Stringer said in September, did not create the specs out of thin air. Kelly gathered industry standard specs already in place, which numerous area cities and agencies have also adopted.
Stringer also dismissed allegations that Kelly wrote the specs so that only he could bid on the 2013 project.
Stringer defends Kelly
Stringer said Kelly revisited the subject of resigning after Stringer won the primary and that Kelly, against Stringer’s recommendation, decided to resign and he thought it would be in the best interest of his own health, the residents of Johnson County and JCESD.
“Reluctantly, I have accepted his resignation,” Stringer said. “I am sad that it has to be under circumstances where a vocal few attempted to taint the record of a man of service who has no peer for supporting all first responders in our county.
“Fortunately, most people I know recognize the incomparable contributions that Mr. Kelly has made to the residents of Johnson County through his service on the ESD board, and we thank him for his unselfish volunteer service.”
Stringer also voiced his support of the county’s first responders.
“I have heard comments that I don’t care about the fire department personnel, or that I don’t support them,” Stringer said. “Nothing can be further from the truth. While I may disagree with the demands of a vocal portion of the county fire services, I am a staunch supporter of all fire personnel who sacrifice of themselves to keep Johnson County residents safe and protect their property.
“Several short years ago, the ESD was an organization that was poorly managed, unfocused, and earned little respect within Johnson County. Among other issues, it was held by many of the fire departments as an ATM machine, which doled out taxpayer funds with little oversight or accountability. When I took office seven years ago, I instructed Mr. Kelly to do his best to help turn the ESD into a professional organization of which Johnson County citizens could be proud. Changing a long set culture is never easy and I expected that it would upset some people, even to the point of creating some enemies, but it was the right thing to do for the citizens.”
Stringer also praised Kelly for his service on the board.
“Mr. Kelly offered his education and business experience to the ESD board and has made a tremendous difference in the advancing of the Johnson County fire service,” Stringer said. “During his tenure, the ESD reached a level of professionalism and respectability never before reached in Johnson County. Some of his accomplishments during his time in office include establishing incentives for departments who recruit volunteers, substantially increasing the funding to fire departments, increasing the level of training of fire department personnel and providing it at no charge, drastically reducing emergency response times, working to reduce homeowners insurance rates by assisting departments to lower their ISO ratings, instituting a volunteer back-up staff of paid fireman to support volunteer fire departments, establishing much needed purchasing procedures and financial controls, and probably most important, detailed accountability for revenues received from taxpayers and distributed to county fire departments.”
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(c)2016 Cleburne Times-Review (Cleburne, Texas)
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