Ohio Firefighter Fired Following Pizza, Rap Flap

March 13, 2008
A Union Township firefighter lost his job Tuesday after he wrote a rap song mocking his boss and police officers.

UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio --

A Union Township firefighter lost his job Tuesday after he wrote a rap song mocking his boss and police officers.

Township trustees voted to dismiss firefighter Jamie Osborne, who also serves as union president, after Fire Chief Stan Deimling said he disobeyed an order and distributed political materials with pizza deliveries to township fire departments.

"It's the politics of Clermont County, and the people that were making the decision on me tonight all donated money to Matt Beemer's campaign and we campaigned against Beemer, so to us its 100 percent politics," Osborne said.

Firefighters were forbidden in September from using department vehicles to pick up food or run other errands, and they said the policy was implemented after they endorsed trustee candidate Cliff Johnson, who ran against the incumbent Beamer.

Johnson lost his election bid and Beamer was re-elected.

Deimling said Osborne withheld information about a union meeting he attended, which required 24 hours paid time off, and posted a rap song on the union Web site.

Osborne said the song, which profanely encouraged sex acts upon police officers, was intended as a joke but directed at authorities whom he said threatened his job.

Those threats were made during the investigation into who paid for campaign materials sent out with deliveries from Gramma's Pizza, Osborne said.

Trustees said Osborne's dismissal had nothing to do with his political views, but the former firefighter said he intended to appeal their decision.

Copyright 2008 by WLWT.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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