Public hearing begins for suspended Clarksburg Fire Chief

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — On Wednesday, a hearing began that will determine if former Clarksburg Fire Chief Stephen McIntire will be able to remain in his role after he was suspended without pay last month for what he claims was retaliation by City Manager Tiffany Fell for joining a firefighter lawsuit against the city.

City officials said that this case boils down to a mural in the former chief’s office. However, based on statements made by Fell, the content of the mural is not the issue, but rather the method by which it was funded.

Fell stated that the initial reason for McInitre’s termination was from what she described as unapproved funding for the mural project—which cost at least $2,000—as well as other aspects of the process.

Fell said that the city received two invoices from the artist, but told city hall not to pay the second. A timeline she provided also showed that investigations began into the mural prior to the announcement of the firefighter lawsuit.

Previous coverage

Lawsuit alleges that Clarksburg has been underpaying its firefighters ‘for decades’

Clarksburg mayor offers ‘no comment’ on fire department lawsuits

Former Clarksburg Fire Chief says he was fired because of involvement in lawsuit against city

“Nepotism, you hired someone who’s related to your partner, who you live with. You are directing accounts payable to pay out of a line item. You shouldn’t have done that, it doesn’t exist in the budget. You didn’t consult public works about painting a mural on the wall, you breached the union contract. You broke policy for getting three verbal quotes, you also broke policy because you didn’t get the authority of the City Manager,” Fell said.

McIntire’s attorney refuted this reasoning and said that the former chief did his best to follow policy. They added that McIntire was not given sufficient financial training and tried his best with what he knew.

Fell and McIntire were able to finally speak on this incident on the morning of June 24 after unsuccessful attempts. During which, Fell said that McIntire—who had his attorney present—refused to answer any of the 14 questions she asked. She considered his refusal to be insubordination and suspended him with pay that same day.

Fell said that after McIntire was suspended, she learned about the purchase of “air paks” and other fire equipment through invoices received by the acting fire chief. She said that these purchases were not approved and were ordered before the city received grant funding for them. This statement was also refuted by McIntire’s attorney.

“The chief did seek the proper way to do that and be able to take advantage of that, essentially, $45,000 savings in that purchase, so that was another thing that he attempted to do it the right way. If there are ways the city wants him to do it better, there should be training on that and an opportunity to correct it,” McIntire’s attorney Teresa Toriseva said.

Other witnesses like Clarksburg’s Director of Finance Kim Karakiozis took the stand and detailed how the former chief spoke to her about how funding for fire equipment can be done. Statements made by both Fell and Karakiozis mention how it is possible to adjust items at the end of the fiscal year in order to properly fit them into the budget.

Despite a lengthy deliberation on Wednesday, the public hearing is not over. A second hearing day has been scheduled to take place on Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. McIntire’s attorneys said that they’re looking forward to presenting their case and that their ultimate goal is to reinstate him as fire chief.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.