|
The Sacramento / Weed Volunteer Fire Department just conducted the 2013 elections for Fire Chief. One of the candidates was the Acting Chief (Neal Himmerich) with 2 years experience the other was a department firefighter with 7 years experience.
The election was very, very close. The Acting Chief “won” by two votes, but he did so by throwing out the department election by-laws and allowing ballots banned by them. Without these ballots he lost the election. This voiding of the By-laws took place on election night, just as balloting started. Several members protested, some left the election meeting in protest. Some members have since resigned, including both candidates (the Acting Chief has since recanted his resignation and has tried to become Chief, but has been banned from running by the County).
The election was found illegal and another election has been scheduled. (Ed) However the damage is done. The Fire/EMS service is now barely functional.
Here is a LINK to an audio recording of the contentious June 4, 2013 meeting (see below for the best audio). The recording is 45 minutes long (give or take) and is mostly background noise, below find a guide to the interesting parts. Hear for yourself!
|
