Ten Mad River Fire and EMS employees resigned from the department at a Mad River Twp. Board of Trustees meeting Monday night — a total of 12 resignations in less than a 24-hour time period.
One of those ex-employees was Mike Gardone, who served as a firefighter and lieutenant for five and a half years. He said he, his wife and handfuls of other employees decided to leave the department because they don’t trust the leadership.
“A group of individuals came together, not as a clique, but to support the community due to the lack of leadership and the hostile work environment that was created by that leadership,” Gardone said. “We took our keys and presented them to the trustees.”
Gardone said more than 25 employees have quit the department since last year.
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He said the resignations stem from the department’s hiring and firing of former firefighter Steve Schaefer — but the tipping point for many of the ex-employees was the internal investigation that followed Schaefer’s firing.
At the Mad River Twp. Board of Trustee’s meeting on Monday night, the independent investigator, Clemans Nelson & Associates, who was hired to look into the department did not recommend firing fire leadership, including Chief Tim Wendling, Asst. Chief Jackie Ashworth and Captain Kurt Werner, for knowing that Schaefer had allegations against him for sexually assaulting two firefighters at Bethel Twp. Fire Department before he was hired at Mad River in 2018.
Schaefer resigned from Bethel Twp. during an internal investigation into the incident in March 2017 and was fired from Mad River Twp. in early 2019. No criminal charges have been filed against him for the allegations and he declined to comment when he was reached by phone on Tuesday.
The walk-out took place after trustees said on Monday that no changes in leadership were going to take place.
Gardone’s wife, Leslie Gardone, who also resigned on Monday night had been with the department as a firefighter/paramedic for 14 years. She said the administration at the department created a toxic and hostile environment for employees.
“None of us wanted to leave — that’s why we stayed as long as we did,” she said. “I hope the people of the community speak up.”
Mad River Twp. Trustee Bob McClure said in a statement that the resignations are unfortunate.
“We would have preferred that they work with us to make a more positive environment with the department, but we’ll respect the difficult personal choices those individuals made and continue working to provide the best service to the public,” McClure said.
McClure said the investigation into fire leadership did not find enough evidence to warrant termination of any employee, but there are things that need to change.
“There are certain issues regarding hiring and communication from the department to us as trustees that will be corrected. We as trustees are committed to addressing these issues moving forward,” he said.
The 12 employees, which includes captains, lieutenants, crew leaders, paramedics and fire inspectors, that resigned makes up a large portion of the fire department’s staff, Gardone said. In total, he said they bring to the table about 200 years of combined experience.
Both Gardones and others who submitted their resignations said they’d be willing to come back to the department — as soon as tomorrow if they were asked — but only if a change in leadership is made.
“It kills me because I do this because I want to do it,” Gardone said. “I want to serve the community. I love what I do but I don’t love doing it there.”
The closest jurisdictions to Mad River Twp. are Fairborn, Hustead and Bethel Twp.
Using additional resources from those departments if more resignations continue would add at least five to 10 minutes to response times for emergency services.
McClure said because of the staff loss, Mad River will rely heavily on Hustead Fire & EMS, which already covers a portion of Mad River Twp. and will rely on surrounding departments as needed.
He said Mad River had a full crew all day on Tuesday, but there is always a possibility of delay in service.
After all of the resignations, McClure said there are about 25 remaining on staff.
He said the township is currently reviewing all applications, and they are looking to fill open positions as soon as possible.
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