Turmoil In Sunrise Fire District, As Two Board Members Censure Another

The Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District Board of Trustees has condemned the actions of a board member who they say flouted a district policy and inappropriately tried to access a personnel file.

At their Monday, July 30 board meeting, the board of trustees—which currently consists of three members—unanimously approved censuring board member Robert Hemen for not following board member rules of conduct. There are currently three trustees serving on the SBFPD board, including Trustee Hemen. Trustee Hemen sent a text message a few minutes before the Monday, July 30 meeting stating that he would be unable to attend the board of trustee meeting, due to a previous commitment.

The censure

The censure is defined in district code, as an action taken by the board of trustees when a board member willfully refuses to abide by policies in the district code. A censure must be approved by a vote of the board of trustees.

The policy in this case related to requests for information and was established by the current board of trustees in 2018.

According to district policy, the proper procedure for a board member to request information from the district is for that board member to go before the board of trustees and request that they as a whole, including the president of the board, approve by a vote of the board, to make an official request for information. The president of the board then is to request the information from the fire chief, who then is obligated to provide the requested information to all board members.

The board said Trustee Hemen did not follow the above procedure but instead telephoned the district’s administrative assistant directly to request the information. The information he requested was comprised of more than 100 documents and included in part:

Invoices for the purchase of uniforms in 2017 and 2018
An itemized list of which employees received specific pieces of uniforms
All credit card receipts from February through July 2018
All district counsel invoices for March 2018.
Copies of Verizon Wireless invoices from April through July 2018.

The board requested Chief Reilly report the details of his interactions with Trustee Hemen at the Monday board meeting. Chief Reilly submitted that Trustee Heman had pressured him (Chief Reilly) to remove documents from a personnel file. Chief Reilly also reported that he had received multiple complaints filed by district employees who said Hemen had harassed them.

Hemen made a Sunshine request for information, as a private citizen, (while serving on the board). Chief Reilly reported that Hemen’s Sunshine request was fulfilled.

The board of trustees then made the decision to censure Hemen, based on the Board of Trustees, Chief Reilly’s and SBFPD Counsel Thomas Lorraine’s input about the incidents. The action was based on the provisions in district code pertaining to board member requests for information.

Heman has been outspoken about the board's action and his issues with the district. In a separate telephone interview, Heman asked rhetorically, "Who is running the show? The chief and the lawyer, or the board?

He took issue with the policy for which he was censured, saying, "As board treasurer, I have to pay for information and I have to go through a Sunshine request to get it. That is not right. There is a lot more here than what meets the eye."

"They are trying to cause trouble," he added.

Approximately 40 citizens attended the meeting which, according Reilly, was the largest crowd in attendance at a board meeting that he has seen in his tenure as chief. The only public comments made at the meeting were made in favor of the board and the district.

District employee compensation

It was reported that Hemen also did not agree with modifications made by the board pertaining to employee compensation.

One modification enacted will pay employees comp time at the rate they were making when they earned the comp time, rather than the amount they make after being transferred from shift work to staff hours.

Shift employees are allowed to work 53 hours before receiving comp time, whereas staff are limited to only 40 hours per week. “This protects both the district and the employees,” Chief Reilly said. “This modification is based on Missouri state law and approved by both the firefighter’s union and SBFPD employees.”

Federal law will allow an employee to bank a total 300 hours of comp time. SBFPD employees agreed to banking no more than 96 hours. “It was negotiated. They can use their comp time whenever they want,” Chief Reilly added. “Our employees have been very good to work with... to find a reasonable compromise. We have a limited amount of resources available and they don’t want to overburden the district.”

SBFPD employees also agreed to not use comp time if the district falls below minimum staffing and they have to work overtime.

Prior to this modification, the district did not have a clear-cut policy regarding comp time.

On Heman’s Facebook page, he commented about the comp time issue: “I am against all comp time, as it is today’s wages being paid with tomorrows dollars. … I believe an employee should be paid for all their work at the end of each pay period. The board has not monitored comp time. The chief does not offer the totals at the end of each month to show how much has been added or removed …”

Hemen served on the SBFPD board for six years, from 2010 through 2016. He was then re-elected to the SBFPD board in April 2018.

The next regular meeting of the SBFPD Board of Trustees is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 20 at the SBFPD Administration building.