Updated: December 20, 2010 1:49 PMNews
Sept. 23, 2010:
I have posted Chief Gill's formal response to the bogus "letters of reprimand" that he received back on May 11. I got it from the fire district, after new board chair Walt Tyler agreed to release it at the Sept. 21 meeting. [more]Sept. 15, 2010:
Grizzly Flats resident Rob Janzen became the newest member of the Pioneer Fire Protection District board of directors yesterday, after being appointed by the county board of supervisors.
The motion to select Janzen was made by District 2 Supervisor Ray Nutting. Janzen is a candidate in the Nov. 2 election, and he will assume one of the seats vacated by former board chair Lulu Silva-Manuel and director Gretchen Fretter.
Sept. 11, 2010:
At their Tuesday, Sept. 14 meeting, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will appoint a third member to the PFPD board. Here is the agenda.Rob Janzen is the only one to submit a request for appointment, so he seems the likely pick. The next PFPD board meeting will be at Sta. 35 in Grizzly Flats, at which time (probably) the board will announce that there are two remaining open seats, and begin the mandatory 15-day notice period for interested persons to apply for appointment to the board. Full disclosure: I submitted my application last week.
Following the Nov. 2 election, Director Dave Boucke will leave the board since he did not run for reelection. That will open up another seat on the board.
Sept. 1, 2010:
After some searching, I found the law that governs the way the vacancies are filled on special district boards. [more]August 25, 2010:
Today I received this email from a colleague of Chief Gill:Subject: Chief Gill Saved My Life
I have heard about events that are affecting your fire district, and noted that there have been some statements made about Chief Gill.
I feel compelled to write you and relate that while Chief Gill & I worked together at McClellan AFB Fire Department, he saved my life.
As his supervisor, I have direct knowledge of his skills, compassion for others and integrity. Many times he displayed exceptional skills on the fire ground at structural fires, medical emergencies chemical spills, and aircraft incidents. It is because of these skills I chose him to co-author a fire-fighter/community disaster planning textbook.
I am simply an outsider, however I was compelled to write you about my good friend.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Chief Gill for over thirty years and feel that the residents served by Pioneer Fire District are fortunate to have him serve their Community.
Sincerely,
James Anderson
McClellan AFB Fire Department (retired)
Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting Working Group
August 24, 2010 (updated):
Don Ramos, Lulu Silva-Manuel and Gretchen Fretter have all submitted official letters of resignation. Not a word of explanation on any of them.
A timeline and documents are here.August 23, 2010:
The Mountain Democrat ran a story about the three fire board resignations.
It's here.August 17, 2010:
Three members of the Pioneer Fire Board have announced their resignations.
According to PFPD Director Walt Tyler, Directors Don Ramos, Lulu Silva-Manuel and Gretchen Fretter all intend to resign from the board, effective immediately.August 10, 2010:
This is Firefighter / EMT Kim Kauhaahaa' s statement to the PFPD board of directors at the Tuesday, Aug. 10 PFPD Board meeting :Hi, my name is Kim Kauhaahaa. I'm feeling pretty nervous, pretty uncomfortable to be in this position tonight, but I feel that it's important, so forgive me if I'm shaking, and feeling a little bit out of place.
I want to read a statement that I wrote to my union representative and my chief about a conversation that happened last night with Director Ramos, while I was here on duty, at work. I am just going to read the statement that I wrote yesterday.
"Tonight, 8-9-10, at approximately 6:13 p.m., Director Don Ramos came around the side of Station 38, to the back parking lot, in front of the apparatus bay. I said hello, and asked him if we could help him. Mark Rogers was currently parking Engine 38 and Micha Anderson was getting SQ 31 ready to go to Station 31.
Director Ramos said he was there for a PVFA meeting.
Director Ramos approached me and began some small talk about his physical therapy at Millennium Sports Club, and he asked me if I still worked there. I said yes, and then he continued to tell me about his shoulder therapy.
Director Ramos then said, "Hey, lets have a 'Don and Kim' talk." [more]
July 31, 2010:
On July 14, I filed a California Public Record Act (CPRA) request for documents regarding the PFPD board's bogus "letters of discipline" to Chief Gill.
Today I received the board's response. [more]July 14, 2010:
No board meetings will ever be held in Grizzly Flats as long as Lulu Silva-Manuel holds the chairmanship. At least that's what she said at last night's meeting. Hear it for yourself right here:
Here is my opinion about why is happening here: Director Silva-Manuel, along with three other board members, does not want the residents of Grizzly Flats to witness what an arrogant and dysfunctional board they have become. [more]
July 9, 2010:
The Sacramento Bee ran an editorial July 3, "All special districts need special scrutiny." It's here. Maybe we should be glad that our board is not even more out-of-control. At the least, we need to be sure they don't get that way.July 2, 2010:
There was another odd bit of business at the June 28 board meeting. At the budget meeting on June 17, PFPD staff was asked to send an email to Bob Toscano at the EDC auditors office. The email was to request clarification about the need to reallocate district funds to balance the 2009-10 budget. They were then to forward the reply to Director Ramos. [More]
June 30, 2010:
The board approved a preliminary budget at the June 28 special meeting, though at times it seemed that they did not understand exactly what they were doing. [More]
June 14, 2010:
The Mountain Democrat ran a story today about the board's apology. It's here.
June 12, 2010
I just have to ask: So the PFPD Board of Directors apologized to Chief Gill. For what?
And they " ... will create a draft to help us assure that an instance such as this will not happen in the future." Huh? An instance such as ... what?
June 10, 2010
An Open Letter from Chief Gill's daughter:
"My name is Heather Espe and Chief Gill is my father. Up until this time I have been private in my support of my father and his current legal situation. However , in reading your website and through monitoring of the situation via copies of meeting minutes, I feel it is appropriate to voice my support in a more public forum if you would allow. [More]
June 9, 2010:
It's about time. The PFPD board apologized to the Chief for their bogus "letters of reprimand." Oh, and they are going to draft a new board policy so that they never do it it again! That's a relief. Here's board chair Lulu Silva-Manuel:
Also, Russ Sime and Rob Janzen announced that they are running for the PFPD board, trying to unseat PFPD Directors Dave Boucke and Don Ramos. Sime and Janzen both received the endorsement of the Pioneer Firefighters Union. [More]
May 19, 2010:
The Mt. Democrat ran an article today about this whole mess. It's here. Overall, a good article. I do wish that the reporter had used a few other sources besides me and Jack Daniels, and had included some sort of response from the board. Also, he gets a key fact wrong: I accused the board of violating the Brown Act by discussing the Chief's lawsuit without their attorney present, not the chief's. It does get the word out, though.
May 18, 2010:
It's been a week since the last board meeting, and my hands have finally stopped shaking enough to type. It's hard to know where to start - I will put down parts of the transcript, and add some commentary. Judge for yourself what is going on here. [more]
May 12, 2010:
Quick update after Tuesday's meeting: The meeting was closed to the public at 8:28 p.m., and reopened at 9:20 p.m. Following the closed session, the board reported that they had given Chief Gill his "letters of reprimand," and that they (illegally, in my opinion) received an update from the "legal committee." More on all this later!
May 9, 2010:
The agenda for the May 11 meeting has yet another closed session (the board's seventh since August, 2009). I caught something interesting, Item 12.1: "In Accordance With California Code Section 54956.9: Existing Litigation: Gill Vs. Pioneer Fire Protection District." Sounds very formal and proper, doesn't it?
Well, the Calif. Attorney General's Brown Act pamphlet says this about Section 54956.9: "This section authorizes bodies to conduct closed sessions with their legal counsel to discuss pending litigation when discussion in open session would prejudice the agency in that litigation."
It also says this: "If the attorney is not present (either in person or by teleconference means), the closed session may not be conducted." [More]
April 26, 2010:
An Open Letter to the PFPD Board, from A.J. Janzen, Grizzly Flats:
If the board reads this Website, these are some questions I would love to be answered by them, or anyone who wants to shed some light . . . [more]
April 21, 2010:
The PFPD Board showed a glimmer of common sense at the April board meeting, removing from the agenda the items referring to the Chief's "discipline/dismissal/release." Chief Gill was in Louisiana on bereavement leave, attending a memorial service for his wife's father, and unable to defend himself. Of course, the board knew he would be gone when they drafted the agenda - but still, a good move.
Naturally there was another "closed session," but some interesting information came out of the board before that. [more]April 7, 2010:
It has been a month and the Chief still has not received the letter of discipline threatened by the board at the last meeting. It seems to me to be cruel and intentional that they would make this threat and then hold it over the Chief's head for this long.
Also, per Board Policy 3.3, I added a couple of items to the April agenda. Let's see how that goes.
March 26, 2010:
Access to Public Records: I contacted the First Amendment Coalition to get some clarification on access to the District's documents and records under the Public Records Act. Here is their attorney's reply. Basically, there is precious little that they can keep secret. If they try, they have to have a good reason for it.March 22, 2010:
On March 15, appointed PFPD board member Don Ramos dropped off a "Memorandum of Direction" at the district office. It "directs" the Chief to not hire or promote anyone without board approval. [more]
March 17, 2010:
- Finally finished the "What is this all about, anyway?" page. Check it out. More to come, by the way.
March 16, 2010:
At the March 9 meeting, the board approved payment of $14,454 to the Downey Brand law firm. When I get a copy, I will post it.Re-posted the law firm documents in .pdf form - should be smaller files, and clearer.
Also posted a copy of Chief Gill's employment contract, which seems to be the cause of all this strife. Have a look, check out the signatures.March 15, 2010:
The Mountain Democrat ran an article today about the PFPD Board.March 9, 2010:
PFPD Regular Board Meeting
Regrettably, had to miss this meeting (wife's vacation!). However, this is my understanding of what took place: At the end of a well-attended and somewhat contentious meeting, the board went into closed session.Immediately upon reopening the meeting, board secretary Walt Tyler announced that the board would be issuing a "letter of discipline" to Chief Gill. The five board members then hurriedly closed the meeting and left.
They gave no explanation or clue as to why they were taking this action, which seems seems to violate the Brown Act requirement that an employee be given 24 hour notice before a closed session "to consider the . . . discipline, or dismissal of a public employee . . . "A reporter from the Mtn. Democrat was there, taking pictures and asking questions. The article should run this Friday, I will link to it whenever it does run. (I hear now that the article has been pushed out 'till Monday.)
Feb. 9, 2010:
PFPD Regular Board Meeting
Appointed Director Don Ramos had some comments about district residents who dare to ask the board to obey the law. Here:
