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12 quit Millersville Rural Fire District after series of conflicts over spendingThursday, November 20, 2008Twelve members of the Millersville Rural Fire District, including the chief, resigned at a board meeting Monday, throwing down their gear bags and walking out after a series of conflicts over spending, said former chief Jerry Aufdenberg. A heated argument with an officer over equipment spending led to the resignations, Aufdenberg said. The department had been running low on both money and storage space for new vehicles, and the maintenance officer had been warned several times to cut back on spending, he said. "We told him, that's taxpayers' money," Aufdenberg said. When the argument escalated at the board meeting, Aufdenburg said, members of the department began tossing their gear bags down, signifying their resignation. "I thought, well, if I stay, I'd be saying I'm OK with it," said Aufdenberg, who had served as chief of the fire district for the past five years. Six firefighters and six officers resigned, leaving the department with 10 members. Board members couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday. Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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Another great moment in "I'm gonna take my ball and go home" mentality.
Bravo!
The Millersville fire department has been in turmoil for a couple years now. They have lost many a good volunteer long before this. It is a tribute to those brave folks to have hung in until now. Hopefully the good citizens of Millersville will sort this out before it affects insurance rates or worse.
Who quit? Who is the maintenance officer? How much is "too much"? How far should one "cut back" on spending? Why was I advised of this situation via email from KFVS12 on Tuesday night and it is only just now coming to the paper? Why do we never get the full story about these things? I know I sound like a little kid, but why? Why? WHY?
Sunbeam,
The Maintenance Officer spent funds not approved by the board. Approval by the board before spending is policy of the fire department. Expenses were put on charge accounts without approval and were not known of until the bills were due for those accounts. And when questioned why those amount were charged, when the officer had been told not to charge items, is what started this particular issue. Now if the Board had backed up it's own policies and repremanded the officer for breaking the rules, in stead of letting him bad mouth those questioning the charged amounts, this issue would not have led to the resignations.