O' Fallon Fire Board Lays-Off 10 of the Highest Officers of the Fire Protection District

I M M E D I A T E   C O M M U N I T Y   N O T I F I C A T I O N

Friday, September 13th, 2013 at 1:15 p.m.

Updated on Monday, September 16th at 1:45 p.m.

Updated on Tuesday, September 17th, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.

Updated on Wednesday, September 18th, 2013 at 4:00 p.m.

From AC Dienoff

Community and Public Advocate

Reference: O’ Fallon Fire Protection District

Firing and Lay-Off of 10 Top Officials

          The Board of Director’s:

Bill Laughlin-President  Elected 4-11 (4-Year Term)

Term Expires April-2015

636-978-1010

Email:  blaughlin@ofallonfire.org

Matt Simmons-Vice President  Appointed 7-12 (Vacancy In Office)

Term Expires April-2014

636-294-1554

Email:  msimmons@ofallonfire.org

Matt Gober-Treasurer  Elected 4-12 (6-Year Term)

Term Expires April-2018

636-978-7562

Email: mgober@ofallonfire.org

Or their Address for written correspondence is:

Board of Director's

O' Fallon Fire Protection District

119 East Elm Street

O' Fallon, Missouri 63366-2600

*Board Members are Paid $100 Per Meeting and also per Missouri Revised State Statue can receive $100 additional per Month if they are the President of the Board and $50 additional per Month if they are the Board Secretary or Board Treasurer.

*Board Meetings and Closed Session are held the Second and Fourth Thursday of every month at the District Administration and Operations Center:

119 East Elm Street, In Downtown O' Fallon 63366-2600

The Public and Citizens NEED to GET involved to "Save Our Fire Protection District" from greed! We need to be present at each and every meeting in force and run Candidates in every Election to regain our District's creditability and reputation.

The Board met in Executive Closed Session of the Board on Wednesday Evening, September 11th, 2013.

            At the Closed Session of the Board a decision was made as follows:

            To dispose of and layoff 10 of the highest ranking Staff of the Fire District.

            These 10 employees were deemed by the Board to be “At Will” Employees of the District and will no longer have the luxury of a Contract as the Engineers of the District are bound by a Collective Bargaining Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding.

Note:  the District does not employee any one having the Title of “Firefighter”   as Engineers make $15,000 additional in salary. There are currently 61 Employees of the O’ Fallon Fire Protection District. 13 employees are in the Administration Division while 48 Captains and Engineers are split into three (3) Battalions of the Operation and Fire Suppression Division spread out among Four (4) Fire Stations. There is also a Volunteer Fire Station in Downtown City of Saint Paul. The City of O’ Fallon is covered by the following Fire Protection Districts: O’ Fallon (North and Central) Cottleville (South) Lake Saint Louis (West) Wentzville (South-West) and Central County (East).

            Each employee of the 10 has been given a 45-Day Letter of intent to make the following decision:

1.      They can resign from their position on their on volition

2.      If eligible the employee can retire from the O’ Fallon Fire Protection District Pension Fund

3.      If after the 45-day period and before January 1st, 2014, the employee will loss their employment and be laid off from the district for the Fire Board to balance the budget

The Employees are being offered $1,000 for each year of service to the District, All accrued vacation time and sick leave and will be vested in the District Pension Board Plan upon retirement. In addition the employees will receive 100-percent medical, dental, vision and life insurance for the their entire family for the two (2) years ending on December 31st, 2015.

            The following Employees were given a Letter by the Fire Board:

                        1.  -Fire Chief Mike Ballman

                        2.  -Deputy Fire Chief Randy Sanders

                        3.  -Assistant Fire Chief-Ken Vomund

                        4.  -Chief Administrative Officer-Scott Avery

                        5.  -Chief Financial Officer-Robert Cerrano

                        6.  -Fire Marshal-Mark Morrison

                        7.  -Fire Inspector-Kaylee Ellison

                        8.  -Battalion Chief-Melvin Emge

                        9.  -Battalion Chief-Charles McCoy

                      10.  -Battalion Chief Mark Stenger

          If you desire additional information or have any questions, please do not hesitate on letting me know.