Ives, a former Decatur police chief and a county corrections officer, said recent attacks on his leadership of the volunteer department stem in part from frustrations over people getting passed over for officer positions, and from his tough enforcement of firefighter training and participation standards. About a third of the department's 31 firefighters have resigned or gone on inactive status, citing their problems with Ives, according to Decatur Village Manager Aaron Oppenheimer, who also serves on the district Fire Board.
Much of the fallout appears to have been triggered by the fire board's decision in May to place Ives on probationary status for one year after he admitted he used a departmental charge card to buy gasoline for his personal vehicle at a local gas station, Oppenheimer said.
He was not ordered to pay restitution, but Ives voluntarily gave up his $2,000 annual salary this year, Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer said the gasoline issue involved less than $500.
Some firefighters who resigned or went inactive said Ives had too much control over department finances and controlled the spending decisions, a departure from the practice of firefighters voting on such decisions.
"Some (firefighters) say he isn't accounting for the finances of the department properly," Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer said the fire board will give Ives a formal evaluation in October. He said Ives was resisting the fire board's attempts to audit department funds.
State police are investigating Ives in relation to his department management, including the gas purchase, Ives said Saturday. He declined to comment on the investigation or possible allegations.
He said most grumbling comes from firefighters who were shirking their duties.
"Most of the guys who bad-mouth me are the ones who don't come to the meetings, come to the fires or come to training," Ives said. "I have the documentation. They want to do their own thing. It (the loss of firefighters) is not going to hurt safety, and it's not going to hurt our response time.
"It's small-time politics, and the rest of it is crap. I've been on the department for 35 years. I've never taken from the community. I've always given."
Terry Burns, former assistant fire chief who is now inactive because of his disagreements with the chief, said he was disappointed the fire board did not mete out more severe punishment over the gas purchase.
"Nothing really happened," Burns said. "He wasn't ordered to perform any restitution, and we're not sure exactly how much money was involved. He has taken all the rights away from the members. We used to have more input. Now all he does is yell and scream."
Another point of contention among critics is that firefighters voted to donate $5,000 raised locally to a Dowagiac family who lost two children and their home in a fire, but Ives insisted on keeping half for the department despite the firefighters' voted wishes, Burns said.
Another complaint is that Ives did not respond to a petition signed by 21 firefighters asking him to remove department secretary/treasurer Carrie Sampsell for poor record-keeping and job performance, Burns said.
"He rules with an iron fist," Burns said.
The chief could be replaced with a majority vote of the seven-member fire board, which includes representatives from Decatur and Decatur and Hamilton townships.
