‘No longer tolerable’: Majority of fire department, including chief, resigns

NORTH COLLEGE HILL, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - More than a dozen veteran firefighters in North College Hill, Ohio, announced Friday they are resigning citing unresolved issues and a “seemingly lack of accountability.”

About 75% of the North College Hill Fire Department are resigning from their positions, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. Included in those resigning are the fire chief, two deputy chiefs, a lieutenant and the “majority of the most senior and experienced firefighters and paramedics” in the department. According to the post, there are nearly 170 years of combined service among those leaving.

WXIX confirmed that following the mass resignation, which will take effect on March 17, there will only be 10 active-duty firefighters left of the 25 that make up the current department which serves the city of 9,556 residents.

“We do not tenure these lightly as many of us have friends and family who live, work and visit NCH and we all genuinely care about all our citizens,” the Facebook post said in part. “However, many issues have continued to persist for months and continue to go unaddressed.”

The Facebook post goes on to say the firefighters have tried multiple to have their concerns addressed by the city government to “no avail.” In a letter obtained by WXIX from North College Hill’s law director, the firefighters cited several reasons for their resignation, including the lack of response to their concerns regarding the “poor performance and hostile actions” of two city officials.

The letter reported members of the fire department have approached officials to investigate the actions of the city’s top administrator, identified in the letter as Jennifer Ekey, and a human relations clerk, identified as Debra Eldridge. The letter said that despite assurances, they saw little to no resolution and “what appears to be little to no effort put forth regarding investigating our concerns.”

“Due to this seeming lack of accountability and the administration’s continued failure to intervene on our behalf we have elected to resign our positions,” the letter states.

The letter continues to say the actions of Ekey and Eldridge “had a devasting effect on morale, recruitment, and day-to-day operations” and those resigning could no longer tolerate the “personal toll of the continued distress” caused by them.

The letter also said those it represents feel the safety of residents is at great risk but they say they’ve exhausted all options and hope their resignations prompt changes.

The city sent out a statement Friday night saying they were “surprised” to receive the mass resignation letter. The statement also said there is an “ongoing investigation” into the concerns brought to them by the fire department, however, at this time the results “did not provide the outcome they were looking for.”

The city did not provide further details about the investigation. They did report there would be “no interruption” to the city’s fire service.

“We are actively working to address the situation and ensure the continued safety and well-being of our residents. There will be no interruption of service and we are fortunate to have excellent mutual aid partners in Hamilton County who are willing to assist. We appreciate the service of our remaining firefighters and will collaborate with them to move forward,” the city said.

The North College Hill City Council met for about two hours behind closed doors Saturday to discuss the mass resignations but took no official action and immediately adjourned. More than two dozen residents had turned out for the meeting, wanting to express their concerns over losing the majority of the fire department.

The city’s law director, William Deters II, insisted Friday the meeting already was scheduled to discuss issues with the fire department before the mass resignation. He also told WXIX that there is a “significant amount of inaccuracies and misinterpretations,” but declined to elaborate.

A draft of the resignation letter went to the mayor and some city council members last month. WXIX put multiple record requests in for that public record this week but has yet to receive them.

WXIX confirmed there had been a meeting between off-duty firefighters and Deters last month, to resolve issues and accusations between the fire department and city administrators. Topics discussed during the meeting included fire levy money, EMS billing revenues, and ordinances needing to be ratified to be compliant with state law accounting and financial reporting requirements. EMS billing revenues recently were redirected to the general fund from the Fire Equipment Fund.

Firefighters also raised concerns about longevity pay that was revoked from the three chiefs in December. They also discussed a missed opportunity for a half-million state grant for salaries and benefits for 2.5 hires as well as retention bonuses because they believed they couldn’t get the proper documentation from the city administration.

The attorney asked the firefighters for four weeks to resolve issues.

North College Hill has been facing issues regarding the accuracy and reporting of the city’s financial activity and accounting. They have struggled to retain a permanent financial director and were called “unauditable” in 2022 by the Office of the Ohio Auditor of State due to “inadequate records to complete and audit,” according to a news release.

A state investigation is also underway regarding an alleged misuse of public money in North College Hill. Public records show that the investigation began last year over a concern regarding timesheet “cheating” by a member of the city’s police department. Since January 2019, the State Auditor’s Office Special Investigations Unit has secured 117 convictions for fraud on 214 charges with total findings so far at more than $20.5 million, according to the auditor’s website.

Copyright 2024 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.