Dave Statter
STATter911.com
WASHINGTON — While DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Dennis Rubin has indicated in interviews and a City Council hearing he regrets how the donation of a surplus fire engine and ambulance was handled, the man in charge of investigating the matter believes the process was totally proper. The 3-page report issued Friday afternoon by DC Attorney General Peter Nickles describes the process used to donate the equipment to the non-profit group Peaceoholics and eventually to the town of Sosua in the Dominican Republic.
The report raises some other questions about the fire department’s testimony Wednesday before the DC City Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. Both Chief Rubin and Assistant Chief Alfred Jeffery made it clear that Deputy Chief Ronald Gill Jr. was part of a delegation of city workers who took the trip to Sosua at the end of January. Efforts by committee chairman Phil Mendelson to learn the names of the other government workers and their agencies were not successful.
The report from the Office of the Attorney General referred only to “a due diligence trip to Sosua by a District Fire and Emergency Medical Services employee to confirm their need and assess their infrastructure and capabilities.” It makes no mention of other city employees involved in the trip and their duties as part of the delegation.
In Wednesday’s testimony Chief Jeffery said, “I don’t know how many went. There were other District employees that went. They don’t work for me so I don’t know who else went.”
Chief Rubin interrupted, “I don’t think that we are sure of any of that. That’s all speculation on our part. I don’t think we took them to the airport. I don’t think we drove them.”
But in further questioning from Mendelson Chief Jeffery relayed some of his conversations with Deputy Chief Gill saying, “I heard there were other employees from other agencies going down. He said there were other people from other District agencies. We really didn’t get into that because they don’t work for me so I didn’t pursue it.”
During his testimony, Chief Rubin expressed his reservations about the process that took place by saying, “I am sorry that Chief Gill went on this trip. I wish I knew more about it on the front end.”
Later Rubin said, “The belief was this was a project supported by the city.” The chief added, “I think we are equally disappointed that whatever fail safes slipped though.”
The report from Peter Nickles was distributed Friday afternoon by Mayor Adrian Fenty’s Office of Communications. We have contacted deputy director Erica Stanley in an effort to find out more about these differences between the report and the testimony on Wednesday. We also asked how Attorney General Nickles can “direct” the return of the equipment since it apparently is no longer the property of the city. We have not received a response.
STATter911.com contacted a spokesperson for the DC Fire & EMS Department trying to better understand Chief Rubin’s concerns that “fail safes slipped through” in light of the report that now says everything was proper.
The City Council is also moving forward with trying to get some answers. From the DC Wire of The Washington Post:
In a letter to Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Ghandi, council members Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) ask for a “detailed accounting of every travel expenditure incurred by the Executive Office of the Mayor and every subordinate agency” during the time period.
The two have also asked the inspector general to investigate.