Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue Chief George Gupton Jr. Relieved of Duties

KNIGHTDALE, N.C. -- In the eleven months since cutting controversial vacation compensation payments to four employees, Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue lost power on its board of directors, control of its finances, and now it's chief.

George Gupton Jr. -- who led the department since the early 1990's -- was relieved of his duties in April, County Manager David Cooke confirmed last week.

M.J. Johnson, formerly assistant chief, assumed the leadership role.

The cause for Gupton's removal remains unclear.

Gupton, station attorney Slade Rand, and Ray Broadwell, Chairman of the fire station's Board of Directors, did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.

Gupton was at the center of a dispute between the station and the Wake County manager's office.

Last June, Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue paid a total of $86,979 to Gupton, Capt. Mike Dennis, Capt. Mike Arnold, and Capt. Anthony Lyons for their unused vacation hours.

Gupton received the biggest check -- $60,000 -- for 1,800 unused hours.

The move prompted an investigation by Cooke who said that a county policy enacted in 2002 prevents employees from being compensated for more than 240 accrued vacation hours.

It was station's second misstep in two years. Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue already had its budget cut in 2010 after it overpaid two employees by $90,500.

In December, Cooke assigned an auditor to review all future financial transactions by the station. Also, County Commissioners appointed four new members to the station's eight-person board.

Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue does not have to repay the county for the vacation payments, and Wake's control of the station will last only two years.

Eastern Wake Fire & Rescue -- one of Wake's 14 not-for-profit fire departments -- was the first to dispute the county's compensation policy.

The station fought county intervention, arguing that as an independent contractor for the county it was not bound by Wake County's vacation compensation policy.

The county manager's office argued that the station was, indeed, bound by county policy because the station is funded entirely by taxpayer dollars.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service