East County Fire Protection District hopes turmoil is over

On Thursday, the firefighters of East County Fire Protection District met for the first time since the resignations of chief Jim Hanks, Capt. Jimmy Hanks Jr. and several others a week ago.

The overall message interim chief Dwayne Kirchhoff got from his firefighters is that it's time to move forward, Kirchhoff said.

"They're tired of negative issues. They're pumped up and ready to go," Kirchhoff said.

Jim Hanks, chief for more than 25 years, didn't elaborate on his decision to resign.

"There were several issues at work. It wasn't any one set of circumstances," Hanks said.

The resignations capped off a series of tumultuous events in the district over the past year, including a disputed vacancy on the fire board, a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission and a defamation lawsuit.

The vacancy issue began about a year ago when the third board member resigned.

Cape Girardeau County County Clerk Kara Clark said she sent a letter to the board notifying it of its right to have a special election in April to fill the spot and making sure board members were aware of the filing date.

At a February board meeting, board chairman Gary Fornkahl and member Pamela Allen both named potential candidates but couldn't agree on anyone.

Allen named three candidates, stating they either showed interest in learning about the fire department or were already firefighters. Fornkahl selected several individuals but declined to give a reason, then proposed leaving the position open.

Clark said she received a letter in April signed by the fire board's secretary that said the district would not hold an election to fill the position. Allen said she didn't know anything about the decision or how it was reached.

In October, Allen filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission regarding state laws prohibiting nepotism. The complaint stemmed from a meeting that month in which Hanks formed a new captain position and promoted his son, Hanks Jr., to fill it, Allen wrote in the complaint.

When a firefighter in the audience questioned the application process, Hanks said he'd made the decision on his own and didn't need to accept applications. Fornkahl, who is father-in-law to Hanks Jr., said it was "the chief's prerogative."

Allen said she let the ethics commission know about the incident so it could investigate. However, the commission ruled there was not enough substantial evidence to move forward with the complaint, she said.

Now Allen faces a lawsuit, filed in June by Fornkahl, stating that she made "defamatory, false and malicious representations to the ethics commission" and by doing so caused him "considerable damage to his reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation, emotional distress, and mental anguish and suffering," according to the petition filed by Phillip Dormeyer, attorney for Fornkahl.

In a motion to dismiss, Allen's attorney, John P. Clubb, argued the suit failed to provide supporting evidence for the three counts it alleged: defamation, invasion of privacy-false light and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Clubb said the lawsuit is without merit and an "intimidation tactic" by Fornkahl.

An amended petition was filed by Dormeyer on Friday in response to the motion to dismiss, this time incorporating libel, written defamation and slander in regard to the ethics complaint.

Clubb moved Friday to dismiss the amended petition because the matter had already been set for a July 14 hearing.

"I'm fully confident that their motion will be dismissed," Clubb said.

Neither Dormeyer nor Fornkahl returned messages Friday.

Allen said she wants to move forward as soon as possible and wants members of the community to know they are protected by a dedicated group of volunteer responders despite the recent turmoil.

Kirchhoff said the energy level at Thursday's meeting was high and the general mood is that the worst of the negativity is behind them.

Over the past several months, the tension had begun to build, he said, though no one let it affect their work.

"Everybody still focused, but there was always tension," Kirchhoff said, adding, "In the fire business, you don't need tension."

The resignations didn't really solve any problems, he said, but they did remove one factor that had caused a split within the district.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245

Approximate boundaries of East County Fire Protection District

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