By Melissa Santos
The News Tribune
ORTING, Wash. — A local organization of fire commissioners is investigating a commissioner from a fire district near Orting for possible ethics violations.
The Pierce County Fire Commissioners Association voted last week to investigate allegations that Fred Hueneka, who represents Pierce County Fire District 18, behaved unethically in the following ways:
- Made improper statements and allegations in his past two annual evaluations of District Chief Randy Shelton.
- Refused to approve vouchers for District 18’s regular expenditures during the past year.
- Interrupted public meetings to threaten the chief and individual firefighters.
Publicly accused three firefighters of threatening him with violence, though Hueneka wasn’t present when the alleged threats were made.
Hueneka, 55, served as a District 18 fire commissioner from 1992 to 2001 and was elected again to a six-year term in 2005.
In an interview Monday, Hueneka said he was targeted for opposing Shelton and a proposal for District 18 to consolidate fire services with the City of Orting.
He defended his right to criticize the chief and denied ever threatening any member of the district. He said he plans to hire a lawyer to defend himself.
“Just because two commissioners say one thing, I have the right to say, ‘I don’t agree with this,’” Hueneka said. “There’s no law that says I have to sign every voucher.”
Hueneka said he did accuse three firefighters of threatening him without having heard them directly, but he did so based on the word of his mother, who he said heard the threats.
“She complained to me, and that’s good enough for me,” Hueneka said.
District 18 attorney Jacqueline McMahon said she couldn’t comment on the allegations while the investigation is pending. McMahon requested the investigation April 15 on behalf of Hueneka’s fellow commissioners, Troy West and Shelley Jackson. West and Jackson also declined comment.
The investigation should conclude sometime in May, said Verne Pierson, president of the Pierce County Fire Commissioners Association.
If Hueneka is found guilty of the alleged violations, the organization could write a letter of censure that residents could later use to try to remove him from office.
Patty Villa, a member of the Citizens Advisory Group for Fire District 18, said Hueneka has been stirring trouble in the fire district for years. He was a volunteer firefighter from 1984 to 1999, when he was fired by then-Chief Harry Harris. In 1998, he was demoted from captain to firefighter by then-Chief Scott Fielding.
In memoranda, each chief cited Hueneka’s negative attitude as a main factor in his decision.
“He has a record of creating chaos in the fire department for several chiefs now,” Villa said. “Frankly, he’s just unstable, and it’s very troublesome.”
Shelton, the current District 18 chief, said he doesn’t take Hueneka’s negative comments toward him personally, though they are a focal point of the investigation.
In Shelton’s March 2008 evaluation, Hueneka called the chief “over-confident” and said that Shelton required improvement in all areas. His other comments about Shelton included “takes care of his buddies,” “hist(ory) of being vindictive,” and “too much time spent ‘shmoozing.’”
“I do understand that he is one-third of my boss, but I don’t let myself get pulled off center and off focus,” Shelton said Monday. “We need to define ourselves by the needs of the community. We’re striving forward.”
Since Shelton became chief in 2004, he said, he has worked to repair the relationship between Orting and District 18, which had a joint fire department until 2002. In 2006, they merged day-to-day operations while keeping their identities and budgets separate.
Shelton works as chief of both agencies. Together, they protect about 17,000 residents.
District 18 and the city have drafted a contract to fully consolidate services again, but Hueneka opposes it, saying Orting should pass a levy to ensure that all residents pay the same rate of property taxes.
Right now, Orting residents pay about 25 cents per $1,000 in property value for emergency medical services, while District 18 residents pay 50 cents.
“There needs to be some parity there,” Hueneka said. “I think the bottom line is they want to discredit me because they want to jam through this contract between the city and the district, which has some real problems.”
Copyright 2008 The News Tribune