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King George volunteer fireman dismissed by county's paid fire chief a month after supervisors gave the chief control of all emergency-services workers Date published: 8/2/2009
By CATHY DYSON After 46 years as a volunteer--and being named firefighter of the year 14 times--Pete Sullivan was kicked out of King George Fire and Rescue on charges that he stole a drill and loaned an oxygen meter to a resident. He was dismissed by Fire and Rescue Chief David Moody in October. The action came a month to the day after the Board of Supervisors put volunteers and paid emergency-services workers under one organization and gave Moody control over them all. Sullivan appealed the decision to County Administrator Travis Quesenberry, who said he found no reason to overturn Moody's ruling. Neither Moody nor Quesenberry would comment because it's a personnel issue. Yet three separate groups that investigated the charges against Sullivan--including King George County Sheriff Moose Dobson--reached the conclusion that the charges were unfounded. The sheriff looked into the case at Moody's request and said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. He discussed his findings with Commonwealth's Attorney Matt Britton. "He agreed that we just didn't have a criminal case," said Dobson. "I had no proof that anything had been stolen to start with, or that Pete Sullivan had stolen it or accidentally picked up the wrong [drill]." The incident has rocked the volunteer membership and removed from service a man who in 2006 ran two of every three calls in King George. "My character was destroyed, my name was smeared, and my years of service to King George County were rendered as a waste of time," Sullivan wrote in his appeal. "My life as I knew it was destroyed." GET RID OF THE LEADER? Sullivan, 63, coordinated the county's emergency services for a decade--for free--before he became the volunteer fire chief. He also helped set up the Fairview Beach fire station. He developed emergency-response plans when the county became home to a massive tire dump in 1978 and added the Birchwood power plant in 1996. Sullivan and his supporters, in King George and beyond, believe Moody wants to get rid of volunteers and have an all-paid staff. Moody said that wasn't the case.
Date published: 8/2/2009
http://fredtalk.fredericksburg.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1507408&an=0&page=0#Post1507408
continue to ignore the voices and concerns of their constituency. It's time to start thinking TERM LIMITS for these Supervisors for life....
I attended the BOS meeting at KG tonight. I heard the President of the volunteer's give a report that only one resignation had been received from the 62 volunteers. Moody was standing shoulder to shoulder with the President. Maybe a little intimidation was meant. The President never answered the question that was posed at the last BOS meeting. Have volunteers left King George and where did they go. Maybe the president needs to grow a set (Moody or not) and tell the truth and answer the question...
Damn computer...
Who remembers the Clift building fire??? In a meeting last April, Chief Moody was asked by Cedell Brooks if he was there & he said yes. Now, myself & many others who were there do not ever recall seeing him there & if the dispatch tapes were pulled & listened to, he never even marked up on the radio.
Who was there in command the whole night??? Pete Sullivan!
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