Surprising If Audit Hadn't Uncovered Monarch Fire Problems

I didn’t start attending Monarch Fire Protection Board of Director meetings until November, but it did not take long for me to figure out that something was not right. When Missouri Auditor Thomas Schweich released his audit of the District on February 15, it would have been surprising if he had not found what he did.

Closed Meetings: More often than not the Board of Directors meetings were closed. The whole point of the Open Meetings Law and the Sunshine Law is to make closed meetings the exception and not the rule. In a January 4 column I wrote how nine of the last 14 scheduled meetings were CLOSED. (See photo.)

So, litte surprise when the State Auditor found in the first nine months of 2011 there were 40, yes forty, incidents when the district improperly closed meetings from the public or failed to document closed meetings—in violation of state law. 

I wrote in January of the Attorney General’s opinion on closed meetings is: “A public governmental body is permitted, but not required, to close its meetings, records and votes when they relate to certain issues listed in Section 610.021.”

The Attorney General recommends political subdivisions (such as fire districts, sewer districts, business districts) avoid holding closed meetings, but in some instances they are permitted but not required to close meetings.

Ironically the day after the auditor’s report, the Monarch Directors had a CLOSED meeting. Was there an explanation or log kept, like the audit asked for?

Lawyers: During the process where the Board of Directors fired four command officers, Board President Kim Evans complained of the costs of defending a lawsuit brought by female firefighters—even though an insurance company picked up much of the costs, she said.

But now it turns out, according to the State Auditor Schweich, there were no competitive bid or proposal systems for some legal services. Schweich said in 2010 there were four different attorneys working for Monarch.

In the case of the pension attorney and the general consul, there were no contracts signed spelling out the terms of service or duties. This is a violation of Missouri law according to Schweich, who reported the pension lawyer may have overcharged the District $4,300.

If you can’t trust a lawyer, who can you trust?

Lobbyists: In 2010 the District hired a lobbyist. This is not new, since Monarch has had different lobbyist over the years. (I have a problem with a fire district needing a lobbyist, but still, it is not unusual.) However, the auditor points out Monarch paid a lobbyist $12,500 without the lobbyist ever providing Monarch with the hours worked or a description of services rendered.

Overspending: During a January Monarch meeting, two decisions about expenditures made me think the recession was over indeed. The same Monarch board that complained about excessive charges for legal fees and insurance a month earlier, reported the purchase of six large floor mats for $1,865.

The old mats were not worn out, but the fire district changed their logo and thought now was the time to spend $310 to wipe your feet on a new logo.

Here's an easy guideline to live by: Don’t change logos during a recession.

Finally, $1,176 was spent on two iPads. The iPads replaced paper and clipboard for building inspections. The information on paper was input later on a computer file. I’m all for new technology, but if you drop a clipboard while doing an inspection dropping an iPod can cost the district $588. Not so, with a clipboard.

So amid all this, it was no surprise when the auditor found Monarch had been doubled-billed, paid twice for the same legal services, and then sent payment to the wrong vendors for cleaning supplies.  

Party time: The big party, called the Awards Banquet that cost the taxpayers $26,000 in September should that be a shock? As someone who worked in public safety for 30 years, I can tell you that I never expected anything more than a paycheck. 

A number of times I received an award or letter of commendation and the cost to the public was almost nothing. The two plaques I received cost maybe $25 each. For years-of-service we were given stars to wear above our name tag with one star for every five years of service. The stars may have cost about 25 cents each.

Apparently, the current Board of Directors believe expensive hardware motivates firefighters/paramedics. They spent $16,000 on 63 awards in a district with 125 employees. This sounds like little league ball, where every kid gets a trophy and none of them mean much—if you are handing them out by the box full.

The auditors took special time to point out that the district was handing out service awards for years of service beginning with five years, which included bronze bells, rings, watches and more. Getting a bronze award for going five years without quitting or being fired does not seem to be a good use of the public’s money.

Then, $5,000 went to the banquet hall and for food. There was $2,000 for a speaker. Folks, there is a recession going on!  I could have gotten a speaker, 9-piece band and vocalist for $1,000.           

Perhaps the worst was the $500 for a photographer. I am quite sure there is someone with the Fire District who takes fire scene photographs, who could have done this with no cost to the public.

BLAME: It seems to me when dealing with Monarch there are two sides, which break down along the lines of anti-fire union and pro-fire union factions.

People claim that the Monarch Board prior to this one was the anti-union board with president Richard Gans and Robin Harris being the majority of the three person-board who were against the union.

Since April of 2010, President Kim Evans and director Steven Swyers are said by some to be pro-union.

It is clear that the lack of contracts for legal services fell under the Gans’ board as did much of the questionable expenditure control.     

Both boards share responsibilities in the sexual harassment and basis rulings. A jury ruled it occurred under the Gans’ board and then the Evans board allowed the jury verdict to be appealed.

Throwing a $26,000 party during tight economic times falls squarely on the shoulders of the current board of directors. If you have funding for a $26,000 party, you need to lower the property tax rate and give hurting homeowners a tax break.

The worst sin to me is holding secret meetings. Now that a Missouri official has put the Monarch Board of Directors on notice that they are illegally holding closed meetings and failing to provide minutes of the closed meetings, it is time for St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch or Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to begin investigating the audit charges if the closed meeting violations continue.

If this board tried hard to avoid having closed meetings I think even their opponents would begrudgingly give them some respect.