Monarch Firefighters and Paramedics Dispute Falsehoods by Monarch Board Member

Monarch firefighters and paramedics definitely do not support incumbent Board Member and President Robin Harris in his re-election efforts. We are adamantly against his re-election for reasons cited below.

Neither do we officially endorse candidate Kelley Miller for the Monarch board in the April 7 election. And we do not officially support Kelley Miller financially. We are running an information campaign to expose the truth and stop the continued propaganda and misinformation campaign of Robin Harris.

For the many reasons noted below we seek change among the board membership.

Board members have a fiduciary responsibility, but that responsibility does not include trying to control day-to-day operations of the fire department.

Robin Harris does not understand fire service operations, yet he and Jane Cunningham are trying to run the fire department and that interference is hurting the department.

Monarch used to be a premier district that people in other districts wanted to join. Today it’s a district that people are quitting because Harris and Cunningham are interfering with operations they don’t understand.

With Robin Harris as president, the Monarch Fire Protection District board of Directors has become a source of petty politics and cronyism, misstatement and falsehoods, budget overages, and a magnet for public criticism.

Many taxpayers are demanding that Harris and Cunningham serve with more honesty, integrity and less petty politics, and want them to stop meddling in fire service operations they do not understand.

Often in the last 16 months, Harris and Cunningham have made false public statements that misinformed the public, publicly insulted our firefighter/paramedic team and tried to make our team look like culprits in the face of the board’s own failures.

In 2014, Monarch Fire Chief Tom Vineyard, Assistant Chief John Borgmann and Battalion Chief Dave Houston left the district by resigning or retiring early because Harris and Cunningham routinely interfered with fire service operations, repeatedly criticized firefighter/paramedics, made false claims about salaries and pension benefits, and simply would not let the chiefs do their jobs without interference.

In addition, Harris and Cunningham assert that the firefighters are promoting a $33 million bond issue that would raise local taxes. That is a complete falsehood. There is no initiative by the Monarch firefighters to promote a $33 million bond issue and there never has been one.

Those three chiefs resigned or retired early from the district because misinformation and constant interference by Harris and Cunningham negatively impacted operations and reduced employee morale to such a low point that highly skilled firefighter/paramedics started leaving the district for other jobs.

There are many instances of board member interference in hiring and promotion processes, meddling in firehouse operations, false public statements and condescending insults directed at senior department officers.

Those instances include:

• Delaying replacement of a defective ladder truck, a useless rescue boat and other broken service equipment

• Forbidding the fire chief from communicating by phone or email with Central County Emergency 911 dispatch offices

• Paying 1.2 million dollars in fees to attorneys that contributed to Harris’ 2009 board election campaign

• Suspending an assistant chief without pay after insinuating that he spoke out of turn at a board meeting

• Suspending a firefighter/paramedic without pay who answered questions from media about bullet-proof vests

• Objecting to job promotions of fire service staff members who successfully completed protocols for advancement

• False claims that Monarch firefighter/paramedics are behind a plan for a $33 million local bond issue.

• False claims that Monarch personnel are among the highest compensated in the U.S.

• False claims that legal actions by firefighters are frivolous when, in fact, courts favored the firefighters in lawsuits

• False claims and misinformation about firefighter/paramedic retirement benefits

• False claims and misinformation about reductions in workmen’s compensation costs

• Violating the district’s collective bargain agreement with the International Association of Firefighters

• Eliminating the position of district Public Education Officer filled by a firefighter/paramedic who was disabled

• Waving weeds in a chief’s face in a public board meeting while ordering that firefighters go outside to pull them

That type of activity by board members is counter-productive for the fire district. It can cause redundancies that cost time and money and encumber the firefighter/paramedics who actually handle fire suppression and EMS services.

Unlike the board, our team does not use taxpayer money from the Monarch district budget to pay for lawyers or lobbyists to represent our interests.

In addition, Monarch firefighters and paramedics agreed to salary freezes in 2009 and we have not had a pay increase in nearly seven years.

Despite Harris claim to the otherwise, Monarch firefighters and paramedics are not the highest paid in St. Louis County.

Each member of our team began their job earning Monarch’s starting annual salary of $16.74/hour. By year five we average $27.90/hour. Firefighters and Paramedics work 24 hr shifts, 53 straight time hours a week, and 2912 hours in a year. We agreed to accept multiple concessions to our compensation package in recent years, and we strive to control costs every day.

Yet Board Harris and Secretary Cunningham have asserted publicly that Monarch employees will retire with an astounding $6 million dollars. That claim is ridiculous. Currently an employee with 30+ years on the job will retire with no more than $400,000 - 600,000 from the district’s Defined Contribution pension.

Regarding the March 31 incident when Chesterfield Resident Larry Hoffman blocked Still House Creek Road, yelled insults and interfered with fire service operations, at first we didn’t know if the guy was armed and dangerous, or what.

It was totally inappropriate to interfere with emergency services and public safety the way that Mr. Hoffman did. His ranting and raving was a distraction to our firefighter/paramedic team and a hindrance to public safety.

We know that Hoffman is a vocal supporter of incumbent Monarch Fire Protection District Board President Robin Harris, who is running for re-election in the April 7 election.

Harris has continually used reckless statements to attack our firefighters and spread falsehoods throughout the Monarch service community,

It is deplorable for a Harris supporter to appear at an emergency the scene and use it a forum to rant and rave about political issues when public safety is at stake, which is what Hoffman did among his rants and ravings.

We filed a police report against Hoffman with the Chesterfield Police Department because of the threatening nature and profanity of his actions.

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