At the December board meeting, Dick Stuart, Falcon resident and former fire chief and FFPD board member, asked director Greg Heule to be available at the January meeting to answer questions about the Mountain States Employers Council investigation. Heule was not present at the January meeting.ìThe communityís been down here two months in a row looking for resolutions on some of these things,î Stuart said. ìI can ask the questions with or without him because … he can listen to the tapes.î He also said that directors Henry Allen and Mike Smaldino might be able to field some of the questions. ìI donít think stalling is a good idea,î Stuart said. ìThis crowd definitely wants to come to some resolution.îStuart said he intended to pursue Heuleís resignation from the board. ìI do want Mr. Heule and both Mike (Smaldino) and Henry (Allen) to know this is not personal in any way,î he said. ìThis is business. Itís driven by the heartfelt and strongly held belief that misdeeds have occurred both before, during and possibly after the investigation recently completed by Mountain States Employers Council. I and many others, to include past and present board members, past and present officers and firefighters; not only from Falcon but from other districts; and a rapidly growing number of Falcon residents and taxpayers hold these beliefs.îStuart said he is in possession of emails and other documents that provide a timeline of events related to the investigation. ìMy intent here is to show that there was a whole lot of footwork done beforehand that was not particularly, in my opinion, honest and above board,î he said.One email referenced an alleged secret meeting between firefighters and one or more directors six weeks before the April 24, 2013, board meeting when three chief officers were put on paid leave. The directors present denied any involvement.Another email purportedly shows that Heule contacted MSEC April 9. ìWas this contact sanctioned by the Falcon Fire Protection District board, or was this just a self-appointed subset of the board?î Stuart asked. Smaldino replied, ìI would say it was self-appointed. I didnít know who he had contacted.î Starkman said he didnít know about it.Stuart read an April 16 email that indicates Glenn Levy (then division chief of training) could have been aware that something was about to happen, although Chief Trent Harwig, three of five board members and the districtís legal counsel apparently were not.Starkman, Kupferer and Allen denied having any knowledge of the anonymous complaint that triggered the investigation and subsequent administrative actions taken on April 24. Starkman said, ìI saw the letter the morning of April 25, after the fact.î Kupferer said, ìWe didnít know anything as a board or individually until we actually went into executive session.î Smaldino said he knew about the anonymous complaint prior to the April 24 executive session.Stuart questioned why the board would take action on an anonymous letter that would ultimately cost the district more than $100,000. Shearer said Heule presented a ìsignificantî amount of information to support launching an investigation, to include the anonymous letter.ìI want to make it clear that itís absolutely right to say if allegations are … brought to the board, the board needs to do what it did, which is to conduct an independent investigation,î Shearer said.ìThe investigation was the right thing to do,î Stuart said. ìSome things were done the wrong way. In my opinion and othersí opinions, it was unfair to certain folks. It was clearly a predetermined (outcome).îThe board agreed to have Stuart continue questions and comments at the February board meeting.ìThere are questions that need to be answered,î Starkman said. ìThey (the community) have a right to know. We need to get to the truth and make sure everybodyís satisfied with the answers. We want to be totally transparent with what happened here.î
