The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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November 23, 2009

Missouri: Fire board meeting produces anger, arrests

The Associated Press

BEVERLY HILLS, Mo. — Three people, including a state lawmaker, were arrested after tempers flared at a fire board meeting in a St. Louis suburb that included a vote to pay severance packages worth more than $780,000 to attorneys and the fire chief.

State Rep. Don Calloway Jr., a Democrat from Bel-Nor, was among three people led away in handcuffs after an emergency meeting Sunday of the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District board.

Calloway told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that police accused him of second-degree robbery for grabbing a district checkbook to determine which bank the severance payments were to be taken from, in hopes of getting a judge to freeze the funds.

A resident and the mother of a district employee also were arrested. Both were involved in a skirmish after Calloway tossed the checkbook to someone near the door, but neither was charged with a crime.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Calloway would face criminal charges. Calls from The Associated Press to the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office on Monday were not immediately returned.

Last week, state Auditor Susan Montee released an audit criticizing the fire board for several problems, financial and otherwise.

About 50 people turned out for the meeting on Sunday, many expecting a newly configured board to fire attorneys Elbert Walton Jr. and Bernard Edwards Jr. Three days earlier, a judge named Bridget Quinlisk-Dailey to the three-member board.

The Post-Dispatch reported that board members Rhea Willis and Roberts Edwards had been at odds, so Quinlisk-Dailey’s appointment was expected to allow for a tiebreaker and lead to the firings of the attorneys and fire chief.

But at the meeting, Walton, Edwards and Chief Joe Washington agreed to resign if they received severance packages. Willis and Edwards voted to approve the settlements; Quinlisk-Dailey voted against them.

The agreement calls for Washington to get $450,000, and for the district to defend him against any legal action related to his duties as fire chief. It calls for the board to pay any settlements, judgments or legal fees.

The agreement also says the district will continue to pay Washington’s legal costs in his federal case. Washington goes to trial Dec. 7 for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and for fraud-related charges regarding his personal bankruptcy.

Washington was fire board president until July 7, when he resigned to become chief.

The severance plan calls for Walton to receive $190,000 and Edwards $90,000. Both also will be paid for bills previously submitted to Northeast.

Quinlisk-Dailey was upset when the resolutions were announced following a two-hour closed meeting.

“I’m stunned,” she said. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Willis met with an angry group of residents after the meeting to explain why she voted for the severances.

“The big picture is to get these fools out of here,” Willis told them. “Do I want to give them the money? No, I don’t. ... But we’re trying to get this district back on track.”

Calloway had filed a lawsuit that resulted in a freeze on district funds.

“There’s no way that we’re going to let these types of payments take place. No way,” he said. “I’m beyond shocked. ... And in light of the audit, this is unbelievable.”

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