Killington town seeks stable transition for new chief, those who spoke out aren’t welcome back

By Katy Savage

The Killington Select Board is barring volunteers who quit or spoke negatively about the town from rejoining the fire department under the newly-hired fire chief.

“Anyone who signed the letter (published in the Mountain Times, Rutland Herald and social media) or bad-mouthed the fire department through social media is not currently allowed to be accepted as volunteers,” Select Board member Jim Haff said at a meeting Monday, July 24.

The tension between the fire department and Select Board started when about half of the 40-person volunteer firefighters and Killington Search and Rescue volunteers quit or were fired under former Fire Chief Chris LaHart, who resigned in June after about five months on the job. Seventeen volunteers, most of whom served on the search and rescue but some also volunteered with fire and EMS, signed a letter and sent it to Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth on March 12, asking town officials to step in. The letter was published in the Mountain Times on March 13.

Those volunteers said they had no confidence in the chief and claimed LaHart “reprimanded, bullied, and dismissed team members.” 

They asked for a discussion with Killington town officials to “determine a practical solution to separate from Chief LaHart’s adversarial and toxic environment.”  

Despite their concerns, the Select Board and town manager repeatedly defended the chief up until his resignation.

The board and department are attempting to move on under new Fire Chief Paul Ginther, who took over  July 10.

Select Board members said they gave Ginther a list of names of people who spoke or wrote negatively about the department. The barring pertains to “Anyone who said something against the fire department — letters to the editor, social media, etc.” Haff said at the meeting. 

“The folks that wrote the letter and put it in the paper right away without giving (the town) a chance, we’re not accepting them back at this time,” Haff said.

Haff said the board’s intent is to “keep things calm” going forward.  “It’s calmed down,” Haff said. “Let’s give this chief a chance and work through what he has, to understand what he has.” 

Board members said there were concerns that if those volunteer firefighters were allowed to  rejoin the department, it could cause other volunteers to quit.

“Morale is a huge piece of what we do,” Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth said. “The chief made the statement perfectly — the wounds are too fresh. It only takes one person who has an ax to grind to mess the whole thing up. We want to be mindful of the rebuild.” 

Steve Finer, one of the volunteers who signed the letter and since retired, said at the meeting  the volunteers have moved on from the previous turmoil. 

“I would disagree,” Select Board member Chris Karr said. “The past is still lingering. What we don’t want to do is head down the past. Right now we have a calm situation, we have a full volunteer board… We’re going to walk before we run.

“I like the direction we’re going right now and I don’t want any more letters to the editors. I don’t want to read about us in the paper anymore,” Karr said. 

Finer and board members said multiple people who quit have spoken to the chief about rejoining the department.   

“If they want to come back they should be able to,” Finer said. “I want to make sure his hands are not tied.” 

Haff clarified the town didn’t direct the chief to not have conversations with the people who quit.

“We never said anyone can’t reach out and talk to him,” Haff said. “What we did say is we’re trying to calm it down. Let’s give this a break.”

The dispute in March came at a time the fire department transitioned from an all volunteer fire department to a partly paid department — a request of the firefighters to entice more people to respond to calls.

There were 23 people on the fire department roster as of Aug. 1. There are currently 17 on search and rescue, which is now under the police department.  

Ginther said in a phone call after the meeting that many previous firefighters have reached out to him.

“I’m trying to get the word out to those people when they come to me, for the time being they are not going to be allowed back,” he said. 

Ginther said town officials “made it very clear” the people who quit can’t return. 

He wasn’t sure if volunteers could return in the future. “It depends if the town management wants to reverse direction on that and take things on a case by case basis,” he said. “I’ll certainly entertain it.”