BIG CHIEF….LITTLE CHIEF….
Dear Readers…The Vice Mayor/VFD Deputy Chief is out of town…and this writer saw VFD Chief Bob Perkins after the Farewell Party for Chief Scott Gooding last Friday night……He was standing outside of Village Grille talking to two members of the VFD (he acknowledged them during our exchange as such)…I approached the Chief and asked if he was allowed to talk to me with the”boss” out of town. Chief Perkins smiled, laughed and said he was allowed to talk to me with him in town and then said He’s [McIntee] not the boss! I told him that’s sure not how it looks…
I had previously heard from a resident that they had spoken a few days earlier with the Chief and he had been quite open with them about the problems he was dealing with inside and outside of the department dealing with his Deputy Chief…Chief Perkins said he was trying to hold everything together…In fact I had heard the following account from leaks within the department before hearing the same story from this person… The Chief nearly came to blows with his Deputy Chief over the Chief’s decision concerning the transport of the new ladder truck…All said that an insurance representative was in the VFD offices and McIntee kicked him out of the Chief’s office to let Perkins have it in a rip roaring exchange…..All said that Chief Perkins let him [McIntee] have it back….with one reporting that the Deputy Chief was egging the Chief on so the Deputy Chief/Vice Mayor could charge him with assaulting an elected official..Lately the leaks have been coming out of the VFD of more and more of fights between members…and of seasoned VFD members who were there long before McIntee who are said to be fed up with what they see him doing in the department………We hear that McIntee is making a concerted effort inside the department to get rid of these men and women (so they cannot vote him out). and has been on the blogs doing double duty with this campaign with help from the Mrs & possibly his BFF….. Even so, up to the evening of July 30th and talking to Chief Perkins, this writer just heard it from those who had spoken to the Chief, heard it from leaks or were privy to the aftermath…..
It was not off the record and it was definitely not private….Comm. Dodd and his wife were there for most of it as well as the VFD members dining outside the outside Village Grille and whomever else was in the vicinity … The Chief said he has been doing all the commercial building inspections as he stated at the podium on the 28th and all he was hearing from the business owners was talk of the March election and voting the Vice Mayor out of office…how much he is hated [McIntee]….Chief Perkins went on to say he [McIntee] will not be voted in as Deputy Chief again in December /January (whichever month they have the VFD election..per the Chief not knowing which month)…He said the Deputy Chief has done alot of good things for the department but the bad is now outweighing the good…He went on to describe the encounter that he said nearly caused him [Perkins] to throw McIntee through the window!…He said he [Perkins] told McIntee he better never do what he did again…He spoke of the insurance rep’s response to the scene and that of the VFD Executive Secretary Cheryl Louvaris (who was shaking he said ) and even Comm. Silverstone’s sympathetic reaction to the Chief in the aftermath!…Chief Perkins again said it was he who was in charge not Deputy Chief Mcintee …This writer then asked why he did not suspend the Deputy Chief for this ?….Chief Perkins said he had to respect his [McIntee’s] position…I asked if he meant his position as Commissioner…and he said as Deputy Chief…(HUH?)… I told him that McIntee should not even be Deputy Chief and said “you shouldn’t have voted for him”…The Chief got a little perturbed and said I did not know how he voted…I said he shouldn’t have allowed the VFD to vote for him [McIntee] due to the VFD by-laws not allowing officers to be elected officials…Chief Perkins said they changed the by-laws to allow for officers not compensated…(This writer has been informed that ANY change in the VFD by-laws would have to come to the Commission to approve per the contract or the contract would be invalid and that has not occurred…oops!)…I asked the Chief if he realized that if he got rid of the Deputy Chief he would be a hero in this town…He laughed and said he was told he could be Mayor…I laughed and said “You could be king!”…I also asked him what he was afraid of?..He said he was not afraid…imploring me to just hold on….to just be patient…I told him I could not be patient……because I believe the Deputy Chief is harming the VFD ….I said the townspeople are behind the VFD just not McIntee….and that any threats of the Commission getting rid of them if he is out…will not happen!….(It is said McIntee has repeatedly told VFD members if he goes the VFD goes and he will see to it from the dais)…We hear McIntee has been going crazy looking for the increasing leaks….. This writer has heard all the leaks…but this is not a leak…this is the Chief of the VFD ….
It is quite perplexing though, that on the very same day of this exchange with the Chief, he is photographed on the back page of the Mc-Furth Times in an ongoing VFD Booster Fund paid ad that read…”I must take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous work my Deputy Chief, Jerry McIntee has done to advance the Department to the present level we are at.”…(Did he know what text would be used by his photo?)……
I know that this post will bring the out the worst for the Chief to deal with…once the Deputy Chief reads it…and for that I am truly sorry…but…I am a resident and taxpayer and I want the Chief of my fire department to act on what is right…to stand up to the Deputy Chief ….to follow the by-laws concerning who may be an officer …and especially to suspend any member that is insubordinate…proving who is in charge…after all the Chief told me “I do not lie”…and I believe him….because the account of the incident never changed no matter who was telling it…and today when I picked up my public records request at the VFD and asked the Executive Secretary where the Chief’s office was she pointed to my right…I looked inside to see his desk and then told her he had told me about “nearly throwing the Deputy Chief through the window”…and judging from her reaction…she confirmed it…I said he [Perkins] said she was shaking afterward…she laughed nervously…and I said “I don’t expect you to comment.”…She said “Have a nice day.”…and I told her to do the same…
One person asked me if this could be a “setup” …I cannot see how it could be…it came from too many sources…and from the Chief himself….The Chief said he is not a liar…and if he stands at the podium and denies what was said…and/or the incident…a full investigation is required…for that would mean the Chief of the VFD slandered the Vice Mayor/Deputy Chief of LBTS…and it would be he who needs to be suspended…
What happens now…we will finally see who is the Big Chief of the VFD……..
more to come…
Tags: chief perkins, Dep. Chief/Vice Mayor McIntee, Scoops, VFD
