Former AL Fire Board Member Says New Bylaw Prevents Public from Voting

SOMERVILLE — A change in the Somerville Area Volunteer Emergency Services (SAVES) bylaws to exclude the public from voting in the election of board members is a power struggle over control of the department, a former board president said.

The board changed the bylaws at a November meeting to restrict the election of the 13 board members only to volunteer firefighters, Somerville Mayor Darren Tucker said this week.

“The community has no voice in who serves on the board,” Tucker said. “That’s not how it was set up. They’re running it just like they want to. They’ve kind of got it sewn up.”

Before the bylaw change, each household in the department’s service area could cast one vote for each board position, said Geoff Halbrooks, a SAVES volunteer and past board president.

Halbrooks called the situation “a mess” and a power struggle. He said the power struggle is about changing the makeup of the board so a fire chief can get his way.

“If a fire chief brings things to a board and doesn’t get his way, they can get a board that will,” Halbrooks said. “And they’ve managed to do that. That’s exactly what they’ve done.”

The board mainly sets policy, handles finances and names the fire chief.

Non-firefighters remain eligible to be elected to the board, though they can’t vote for themselves, Tucker said.

Board President Devin Nelms and Fire Chief Jason Wilbanks both said the changes were not made to cut the community out of the department. Both said changes in an organization are sometimes needed as times and people change. Nelms said the changes were made after careful review of the bylaws and the department.

“What we have done was reassured the assets and the professionalism of the department to better serve our community,” Nelms said.

The 22 volunteer fire departments in the county receive equal shares of a 3-mill county property tax that generates about $2.3 million a year.

Nelms and Wilbanks said changing the bylaws is meant to prevent someone with no knowledge of firefighting or emergency medical services from taking over the board and control of the department.

“We feel that could be detrimental to our finances, our community members and ISO ratings,” Nelms said. “We feel that for our citizens, we had to protect that from happening.”

“The firefighters know about the profession,” Wilbanks said.

Wilbanks said if someone thinks there’s a power struggle at play, “It’s within themselves.”

The board has nine voting members and four officers, who vote only in certain circumstances. Wilbanks said three of the board’s voting members and all four officers are non-firefighting community members. A fourth board seat is a “swing” spot that can be either a firefighter or a community member, he said.

Nelms said that, to the best of his knowledge, SAVES is the only department of the county’s 21 volunteer fire departments that allows community members to serve on the board.

“All we’re doing is getting in line with the others,” Wilbanks said.

Nelms said all community members are free to attend board meetings.

Tucker said the November meeting when the bylaws were changed was held on a Sunday afternoon with no advance public notice. Board members are elected at the annual meeting held each January.

Tucker said the board would not allow him to speak at the annual meeting earlier this month. He said he was told he had to give the board 10 days' notice to be put on the meeting agenda, and he had to specify the topic he wanted to speak about.

SAVES was established as a corporation with the intent of allowing residents to become involved in the community, Tucker said.

“I don’t care who serves on the board,” Tucker said. “It doesn’t bother me one bit who’s on the board. But, now nobody has the right to go out and run for that because they’ve got it locked up. There’s probably not even a need for an election now.”

Halbrooks, the board’s president from 1994-2007, said the board has the authority to change the bylaws, but that power was not intended to allow changing voting eligibility.

All of the board members did not agree with the bylaws change, Halbrooks said, but the dissenters were in the minority.

[email protected] or 256-340-2438. Twitter @DD_KeithClines.

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