Commissioner issues public confession
Locals attending the Aug. 25 Bayview Community Council meeting were startled to hear Timberlake Fire Protection District President Rudy Rudebaugh issue a blatant, if unintentional, confession to the allegations which have inspired a district wide recall movement against himself and commissioner Fish.
When asked why the board issued no public notice of their intention to terminate Chief Krill's contract in favor of transferring his duties to the Northern Lakes Fire District on June 9, and why no public comment was permitted at that meeting, Rudebaugh replied that he and commissioners Fish and Quillin wanted to "prevent their plan from being sabotaged." Apparently their fears were well founded, because once they succeeded in forcing through their plan they were immediately faced with a groundswell of public outrage leading to the recall.
While Rudebaugh insists that the decision to terminate Chief Krill was a "purely financial decision," it is well documented that the relationship between Rudebaugh and Krill was contentious from the outset.
On Feb. 16 Chief Krill complained in an e-mail to the other commissioners that Rudebaugh's "harassment and bullying of staff was creating a hostile work environment that was disrupting operations." In addition, Krill cited Rudebaugh's pressuring of staff to direct spending for parts to Rudebaugh's business, Victory Auto Parts, as a flagrant conflict of interest, which by Rudebaugh's own admission has yet to be formally resolved.
The conflict between Krill and Rudebaugh escalated, eventually culminating in a May 17 agreement by both men to attend Conflict Resolution Counseling. When asked why he subsequently reneged on that agreement, Rudebaugh replied that he thought it would be "inappropriate for a superior to engage in such a process with one of his subordinates," his implication being that a $75 per meeting commissioner was somehow vastly superior to an $96,000 per year professional fire chief.
Commissioners Rudebaugh and Fish got elected through the scare tactics of radical anti-tax political activist Larry Spencer, who circulated letters advocating their election to prevent what he mis-characterized as Chief Krill promoting a levy that would have dramatically increased district tax rates, while making no mention of the poor state of repair of the district's physical assets. The truth is that a levy was only one of several possible corrective measures suggested by Krill to address an array of deficiencies.
In January Chief Krill prepared a newsletter and survey designed to inform Timberlake residents about the extent of the district's problems and to gather public input on measures the community might support. However, on Feb. 9 Rudebaugh announced that he opposed Krill sending out the newsletter and with the help of commissioners Fish and Quillin was able to table the measure indefinitely.
When asked why he did this, Rudebaugh replied that releasing Chief Krill's newsletter "would have been illegal as its dire claims amounted to scare tactics." The irony of Rudebaugh claiming "scare tactics" was not lost on anyone familiar with how he got elected. The newsletter was quashed because the option of a levy was included, and Rudebaugh and Fish are dedicated to a radical anti-tax ideology.
Following Chief Krill's termination on June 9, the TFPD lost several key personnel as a result of people resigning in protest. One of those resignations was commissioner Wiese. When he attempted to rescind his resignation four days later Rudebaugh refused to reseat this duly elected representative, opting instead to exploit the opportunity to further stack the board in his favor by appointing one of his cronies who was not even qualified to serve by virtue of his not being a registered voter.
Rudebaugh's hostility toward Chief Krill was further underscored when during Krill's termination negotiations Krill offered to meet with Chief Marcus of Northern Lakes for up to 4 hours to brief Marcus on all outstanding operational issues. Rudebaugh's response to Krill's proposal, which was delivered to Krill's attorney through TFPD attorney Larry Beck was "Chief Krill can go pound sand." And yet Rudebaugh would still have us all believe that the decision to terminate Krill was "a purely financial decision."
Even with Chief Krill now departed, Rudebaugh continues to malign Krill's reputation. In a recent TFPD newsletter we find the following statement: "In mid February, the chief acting on his own without board approval, removed many pieces of equipment from service." This statement is flagrantly false as Rudebaugh's own e-mail of Feb. 4 to all TFPD staff cited here proves. "Chief Krill's directive below is 100 percent supported by me and encouraged/expected to be followed. Each member of this district is empowered, without hesitation, to take a vehicle or piece of equipment out of service if there is any safety or operational issues with it. Even if you are en-route to a working fire, stop and call yourself out of service, don't risk anything. Your safety and that of those around you should never be compromised or we may become the ones in an emergency."
Maxwell Austin van Lack is a Bayview resident.