I received a call from Attorney John DeStefanis midday on Friday, and returned his call in the early afternoon. He serves as Germantown's Village Attorney. He had called to give me some information that might help me better understand the situation concerning our fire department and our our village trustees. I had referenced his opinion as reported in the Journal Sentinel article covering what I thought to be a similar issue in Mequon.
I have been critical of Trustee Langer continuing to serve as Chair of the Public Safety Committee even though he has now ended his service as a paid-on-call firefighter in Germantown. Mr. DeStefanis pointed out that there were two distinct issues involved. Those issues are whether or not the 'offices' are compatible when two positions are held by the same person, and it addresses the potential for conflict of interest. He pointed out that state statutes permit one person to serve as both a trustee and a firefighter simultaneously. This is not incompatible so long as the position as firefighter wasn't created expressly for the person, that the person not earn greater than $15,000 per year, and that the person's selection as a firefighter was not vested in the government body on which he or she serves. The Village Board does not hire firefighters, the open position was not created by the Village Board, and any selection process is made by the Police and Fire Commission, and not the Board.
Since Trustee Langer had resigned his position as firefighter, Mr. DeStefanis mentioned that the conflict of interest is attenuated as to be of virtually no concern from a legal perspective. He did say that some conflicts of interest were probably inevitable, but that those can be handled by the person's abstention from debate and vote on such issues.
Attorney DeStefanis also reminded me that the Public Safety Committee has much broader involvement than simply with the fire department so there were, indeed, many matters in which he would need not abstain.
I was very pleased that Mr. DeStefanis would take the time to help me better understand as I was with his professionalism and cordiality. He invited my call back if there were ever other issues that I'd like to discuss. I confess that I was wondering if this was his idea alone or if it had been prompted by others.
I continue, however, to be concerned with the 'appearance' of Trustee Langer's service on the Public Safety Committee and voiced that to Mr. DeStefanis.
And, I continue with my concerns for our EMTs, fire fighters and citizens. The current environment is not a good environment no matter the 'side' one might choose. If there truly are significant performance issues, those should be dealt with quickly. The idea that 'apparent' dirty laundry (without being identified) is hung out for everyone to see while the fire chief is expected to run his department seems contrary to good public policy. I am concerned that the chief is not permitted to address these 'issues' but that they can be laid out in public. That seems unfair and possibly even a little vindictive. But, I may not understand this issue either.
