By Tiffany Y. Latta
The Dayton Daily News
NEW CARLISLE, Ohio — New Carlisle City Council members recently agreed unanimously to hire investigators from Cincinnati to look into allegations levied against Fire Chief Bradley Phillips.
The investigation comes after city leaders received a five-page letter believed to be from a group of anonymous New Carlisle firefighters who expressed concerns about safety and morale in the department.
The letter outlines multiple grievances, including favoritism, gaps in staffing, outdated safety equipment and a hostile work environment at the station.
The investigators will be attorney and University of Cincinnati Associate Professor and Fire Science Chair Lawrence Bennett and UC Professor Emeritus William Kramer.
Bennett will be paid $250 per hour and Kramer will be paid $175 per hour.
The investigation must be done for the safety of the department and New Carlisle residents, Mayor Lowell McGlothin said.
“We want to make sure that the firemen are safe, the EMS are safe, and the people who live in the city are safe,” McGlothin said.
Outside investigators will ensure the results are objective and impartial, he said.
Some of the issues raised in the letter address Phillip’s leadership decisions that the writers claim have affected firefighters abilities to respond to emergencies.
Some promotions Phillips has made have gone to employees who live 45 minutes away, the letter says.
“Who is going to lead the young firemen going (into) the fire if the officers are 45 minutes away,” it says.
Gaps in staffing at the station are common, it says, and the department has lost a number of volunteer firefighters.
“I would describe the New Carlisle Fire Department as being critical. We are down to a handful of volunteers because Chief Phillips has done nothing to retain or recruit volunteers since he became chief,” the letter states.
Phillips declined to comment about the allegations, but said he hopes the investigation ends soon.
“I can’t really say much until we complete the investigation,” Phillips said. “I want it over as quick as it can be done, because I want all of this behind us so we can keep moving forward.”
Council members are concerned about the cost of the investigation, McGlothin said, but are hopeful that Bennett and Kramer can complete the investigation as soon as possible.
“It’s something that has to be done. We don’t have anyone that would be qualified to be able to do that,” he said.
Councilman Bill McIntire said he had been asked to have local residents look into the allegations, but voted to hire outside investigators to ensure that there was no conflict of interest.
“I really like the idea of going to an outside source not connected to the city that understands the interest of what this case is about and what the situation is about and they can come in, in an impartial way and look at that and come back with whatever recommendation or result that they have,” McIntire said.
Councilman Rick Lowery said he reluctantly voted in favor of hiring the outside investigators for the safety of the community. He previously looked into concerns about the fire department and believes the allegations are lies.
He said he’s not sure if the letter came from unhappy members of the fire department who wanted to stir up some rumors or other sources. It’s unfortunate that the city has to pay for an investigation because some people want notoriety, he said.
“There were outsiders that weren’t in the fire department that fueled some of this and I firmly believe that,” Lowery said. "... I think New Carlisle has an awesome fire department. They have for years.”
Councilman Ethan Reynolds said the allegations made against the fire department are serious and need to be investigated.
“The allegations are very, very serious and even if they might not be true, I think that the best thing to do is make sure we have a full investigation because I would hate for something like this to actually be true and we didn’t do anything about it,” Reynolds said.
___
(c)2015 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.