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Document distributed to former fire and rescue volunteers shows Pete Sullivan as its author, even though the Board of Supervisors member behind the survey said Sullivan wasn't part of the group
By CATHY DYSON
Pete Sullivan is listed as the author of the electronic questionnaire being circulated among former fire and rescue volunteers in King George County.
Sullivan served 46 years as a volunteer before he was dismissed in October 2008 by Fire and Rescue Chief David Moody. The chief said Moody had stolen a drill and improperly loaned equipment to a resident.
Sullivan, his family members and friends maintain that the fallout from that dismissal resulted in at least 23 volunteers leaving the system.
Meanwhile, Board of Supervisors member John LoBuglio--who came up with the idea to survey volunteers about why they left and what changes might bring them back--insists that Sullivan wasn't part of the questionnaire effort.
Instead, he said a committee member used a Microsoft Word document that Sullivan created to get information about a county code. The committee member then built the entire questionnaire on the same document, LoBuglio said.
The committee also got a number of addresses from Sullivan because he had the most complete list, LoBuglio said.
"But Pete was not on the committee," LoBuglio stressed Thursday.
Sullivan could not be reached for comment. When asked earlier this week about the questionnaire, Sullivan said he preferred to comment after the data from volunteers had been collected and presented to the King George Board of Supervisors.
The questionnaire was sent by letter and email to about 35 former volunteers. As part of a story in Wednesday's Free Lance-Star, the questionnaire was posted online, on the King George County blog of fredericks
On Wednesday, Steve Wolfe, who served on the King George Board of Supervisors for eight years, called to suggest looking at the details of the document. Users can hover the mouse over the document, click on the right button and go under "Properties" to "Details" to see Sullivan's name as the author.
LoBuglio said he didn't know Sullivan's name was on the document until Phyllis Cook, a reporter for The King George Journal, asked him about it.
Wolfe is married to Jessica Herrink, whose family publishes the Journal.
LoBuglio said the connection to Sullivan doesn't affect the credibility of the questionnaire "in any way whatsoever."