By Elizabeth Gibson
The Columbus Dispatch
MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — After filing a public records lawsuit against the township, Madison Township firefighters have obtained a first draft of their chief’s performance review, which rated him as “below requirements.”
Township officials have called the draft inaccurate and initially tried to withhold it from the firefighters.
“After some additional research, we felt that, at the end of the day, it was going to be judged as a public document, so why prolong the inevitable?” said Larry James, the township’s attorney.
Former Township Administrator Judy Edwards signed and dated the document in January and noted that the chief had refused to sign it. It gave Chief Clifford Mason 47 of 140 possible points.
Mason said he contacted the trustees to explain the evaluation.
Edwards said in a letter that she put the evaluation in the chief’s personnel file as a final copy. After that, trustees refused to renew Edwards’ one-year contract.
They approved a positive review in February, the same day the firefighters union held a vote of no confidence in the chief. In that review, the chief ranked “exceeds expectations” and scored 94.5 out of 140 points.
“Edwards was very unfair because she spent a lot of time at the fire station listening to and believing untrue things that the firefighters said,” said Township Administrator Larry Flowers.
Flowers, who hired many of the firefighters when he was fire chief, said he was disappointed that they are airing dirty laundry in public.
“We are trying to build bridges, and they don’t want to work out issues, just get them in the newspaper,” he said. “They have the best of everything and a multimillion-dollar budget, and yet they’re not happy just because they don’t like the fire chief.”
Each side has called the department a hostile work environment, but blames the other.
Members of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2507 have said Mason is out of the office too much and doesn’t interact with his employees enough. Mason is also the mayor of Hebron and president of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association.
Mason said he has tried to follow recommendations by recognizing firefighter accomplishments and posting more on the department blog.
The union sued in September in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, saying that the township was withholding the original performance review.
Union steward Anthony Robinette said the firefighters intend to settle out of court for attorney’s fees.
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