Firefighters Vote to Create New Board for Oversight

Fort Wayne Fire Department Chief Peter X. Kelly reports that the Fort Wayne firefighters have voted to implement a Fire Merit Board. The move required a 51% vote of the firefighters, and the final tally was 270 to 32, enough to proceed. Of the 357 eligible firefighter voters, 270 voted yes, 32 voted no and the remaining 55 did not vote.

“We will move forward on implementing this,” said Chief Kelly.  “As before, the safety of our firefighters and the citizens will be our key focus as we work with this new board.”

Mayor Tom Henry announced he accepts the decision of the firefighters who voted to create and implement the Fire Merit Board as proposed by the recent City Council ordinance passed in August.  The ordinance created a board that will oversee firefighter hiring, promotions, evaluations and discipline. It will be made up of five members, with three chosen by the mayor and two chosen by the firefighters. The mayor said he will be formally asking the three veteran members of the Board of Public Safety to serve as his three appointments to this board. Frank Casagrande, Sharon Peters and Quinton Dixie had indicated they would be willing to serve in this capacity, as well as to continue their roles with the Public Safety board. This will ensure a high degree of consistency and continuity between decisions made by the Board of Safety and the newly created Fire Merit Board.

In August, Mayor Henry expanded the Board of Public Safety to also include a retired police officer, Steve Boerger, and a retired firefighter, Bob Elder. They will also continue to serve on the public safety board.