Farmington City Manager Rob Mayes found himself in a difficult situation.

He mulled for more than a week an internal affairs report that no doubt painted a disturbing picture of mismanagement and corruption within the ranks of the Farmington Fire Department. One former fire chief was arrested for embezzlement; another failed to act on knowledge of it.

Prior to all this in recent months, the department faced one black eye after another for its members being caught for DWI.

Asking Mayes questions is an elected city council that must deal with politics and image.

Together, they must examine how to protect the integrity of a traditionally respected and much appreciated department while at the same time cleanse it of a serious infestation of poor leadership.

Mayes released his response and did what was expected by going overboard to point out not everyone in the Fire Department is a crook. Most of them are heroes and honest, hard-working, dedicated public servants.

So now to the problems.

Mayes, on whose shoulders rests the never-please-all tough decisions for city personnel issues, has implemented a plan to make changes.

Is it enough?

***

Much like companies and corporations often formulate and rally around a mission statement, the Farmington Fire Department needs a leadership statement.

The city of Farmington needs a leadership statement.

Mayes made somewhat of one a few months ago when he implemented a new policy that city personnel

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could be fired for driving under the influence; this after a series of DWI arrests involving several city personnel, not just firefighters.

Unfortunately, DWI was only one problem within the Fire Department.

An affidavit for an arrest warrant was filed by police on Aug. 25 in Farmington Magistrate Court accusing former Fire Chief Robert Martin of a variety of embezzlement charges. The list of woes not only link Martin to wrongdoing, but it includes a chain of failures that one caller to me likened to a conspiracy, whether willingly or unrealized by its participants.

An affidavit is a sworn statement, not a court ruling or jury judgment. It nonetheless in this case reveals problems.

The following is a much-abbreviated sequence of events described by police in the arrest affidavit:

  • Farmington police detectives were assigned the case as a criminal investigation on Aug. 11 after a credible tip to police. This, keep in mind, is 3 to 5 years after the primary events in question.

  • Police on Aug. 13 contacted another former fire chief, Carl Pesker, who retired from the department in 1998. "He said that recently, he had a conversation with an unnamed firefighter who was making claims that former Fire Chief Robert Martin had purchased items using COF (city of Farmington) funds for his own use," according to the affidavit. "Pesker encouraged this individual to come forward to police, but he was reluctant due to threats of retribution and recent demotions that had occurred related to these allegations by the current administration."

  • The firefighter later was identified as Capt. Randy Wakeland, who according to Pesker alleged that Chief Martin charged several items to his city credit card during construction of Fire Station No. 6. Items later discovered missing included a refrigerator, two cell phones, two laptop computers, a wire-feed welder and a generator. Fire engineer Jimmy Crawford discovered the missing items when he found a receipt.

  • Wakeland approached Martin about the items and told Pesker that Martin said the items taken "were owed to him for all the time he worked for the COF (city) and was not paid." Wakeland told Martin that firefighters were talking about the missing items.

  • Martin approached his then-assistant chief Troy Brown, the most recent chief, and told him what was being alleged by Wakeland and other employees. "Brown later confronted Wakeland and ordered him to stop discussing the activities of the chief."

  • "According to Pesker, since then, Wakeland said this issue has caused him a lot of grief with Brown... and has even resulted in Fire Marshal Herb Veazey's forced demotion for supporting him. Because of this, Wakeland refused to come forward on his own to police."

    ***

  • Police toured Station 6 on Aug. 14. "As we looked at different tools, a Fire Captain stated that hand tools have a habit of coming up missing." They asked about computers and were directed to Wakeland, who was responsible for the computer purchases and maintenance for the Fire Department. Questions were raised about the computers linked to Martin and how they seemed to be obtained outside the normal purchasing process. Also missing among the big-ticket items being investigated was a donated passenger car.

  • Assistant Fire Marshall David Doudy was interviewed "and substantiated the rumors." He told police that when he talked about missing items with Martin, "Martin did not deny the theft, but instead informed Doudy that he considered items taken from the FFD perks of being the Fire Chief."

  • Veazey was interviewed. "He informed us that he had been recently demoted from chief fire marshall to assistant because of his support for Randy Wakeland and David Doudy in their desire to confront Chief Martin with the allegations."

  • Fire Chief Troy Brown was interviewed, also on Aug. 14. Brown "confirmed that during his tenure as assistant fire chief subordinate employees brought the allegations to his attention and he took the matter to Chief Martin." Martin "denied the allegations and directed him to stifle the rumors."

    Brown also stated he observed Martin "load a passenger vehicle donated to the FFD on a car hauler trailer and transport it to his residence." Martin, on his last day of work before retirement from the department, denied having the missing property during a conversation with Brown. "For an undisclosed reason, Chief Brown accepted this denial as fact, and with this, failed to investigate the matter further."

    Brown also told police that two weeks prior to the Aug. 14 interview, he learned from his secretary that Martin allowed his son to use a Fire Department cell phone as his own, with the city paying its usage, according to the affidavit.

  • Police on Aug. 17 interviewed Vicki Englert, an administrative secretary who told them she on two occasions brought to Martin's attention the uncharacteristic use of a department cell phone. She called the number the first time and Martin's son answered it. Later, Martin "acknowledged his son's use but gave no indication corrective measures would be taken." The second time was about an exorbitant bill for the same phone. "He told her that he would have the phone in his son's possession changed to an unlimited text message plan."

  • Battalion Commander Hal Daughty "was interviewed and substantiated the rumors" on Aug. 17, but "had no first-hand information."

  • Engineer Shadd Rohwer was interviewed Aug. 17 and said he was earlier directed to unload several televisions purchased by Martin from a delivery truck at Station 1. "Upon unloading the last television, Chief Martin told him to place the smallest one into his vehicle because it was going home with him. The television was approximately a 37-inch flat screen."

  • Battalion Commander Jim Candaleria "was interviewed and substantiated the rumors" on Aug. 18, "but had no specific information."

  • Finally, on Aug. 19, police contacted Martin himself. That led to a typed admission to several counts of embezzlement and disposing of stolen property, the recovery of various missing items, and Martin's arrest.

    ***

    Supporting the pursuit of justice against Martin should be the easy part for Mayes and anyone at City Hall looking to clean up this mess.

    It gets a bit tricky after that.

    No fewer than 10 names associated with the Fire Department are listed in the affidavit as having knowledge or suspicions of serious issues that, in some cases, included theft or improper use of city funds. Yet, only on Aug. 11 did the investigating detective get assigned to this case, 3 to 5 years later.

    Thus the questions begging for answers and tough resolve to re-establish the credibility of not just the Fire Department's leadership, but that of our city, on this matter.

    Why did no one feel they had a safe ear to hear them without risk of demotion or losing their job? Was there not someone, elected or appointed, whom they trusted?

    Despite the risks, why did no one act sooner to seek justice? The primary answer likely is fear of job loss, so how will the city handle this in the future to alleviate such fear for whistle-blowers looking to right obvious wrongs?

    What does his knowledge of wrongdoing yet lack of corrective action say about our most recent fire chief, Troy Brown, who agreed to a demotion but was not fired?

    Why wasn't he fired for not taking care of his department's best interests? Do we really want to keep someone on board who apparently looked the other way while in a leadership position with the duty to do something about it? How do we know he won't look away from such duty again?

    What will Mayes or the city council do now to send a message to all of the city's 750 employees that such behavior should not be swept under a rug, and that it is the duty of anyone knowing of wrongdoing to report it; and the duty of someone within leadership to give appropriate reaction?

    Mayes' response was a start, but beyond that it's going to be tough for a new fire chief to heal this department alone. The new chief will need the support of the rank and file as well as top leadership, and lately none of that has served on the same page.

    Mayes' call for an administrative overhaul in the department will require more than good PR to rally the troops, and it may mean a few more closets need cleaning first.

    The romantic fascination children grow up having with the risky yet rewarding lifestyle of firefighters going to the rescue will always be there, as will all of our sincere appreciation for what these brave men and women do. Most of them deserve a better spotlight.

    Right now, however, it is this department that needs a rescue.

    Answering the alarm bell with determined action is the right response.

    Troy Turner is the editor of The Daily Times. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 450, Farmington, N.M. 87499; or at tturner@daily-times.com.