CUMMINGTON — A state commission has dismissed a complaint by Fire Chief Bernard Forgea, who alleges that a Select Board member told him in March that he is “too old” to be chief.
Forgea filed the complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination shortly after Select Board member Bill Adams questioned his ability to do the job because of his age at a March 8 Select Board meeting.
Now 74 years old, Forgea alleged that at the end of that meeting, Adams said that he is “too old,” that the department “needed younger blood,” and that Adams was upset about Forgea’s “appointment for life” as fire chief.
“After years of good service to this town I’m proud of it and I have nothing to be ashamed of,” Forgea said in an interview Friday. “To have them stand there and question me when I’m going to be done was beyond a slap in the face.”
In the complaint, Forgea wrote that he has served as a volunteer firefighter for the town since 1960 and became fire chief and strong chief in 1982. He has also served as the town’s volunteer emergency manager since 1982.
Forgea said it was the Select Board who defined the fire chief’s appointment in the Town Report.
“I did not come up with that statement, I did not come up with that title, I did not come up with that position,” Forgea said. “They’re having trouble with themselves.”
Adams said that the conversation he had with Forgea was prompted by the death of Montgomery Fire Chief Stephen Frye, who collapsed and died while battling a house fire in December 2017 at age 59.
“My objective here was to create a conversation and open up a dialogue,” Adams said. “Bernie’s done a good job. It’s just time to have the conversation.”
After sitting down with the Select Board in an open meeting last summer to discuss his replacement, Forgea said he felt blindsided by the comments some nine months later, as he saw his age as a non-issue. He plans to continue serving in his role as fire chief for the forseeable future.
“They know who the replacement designee is, that’s why this whole thing was like an ambush,” Forgea said.
Forgea stated in the complaint that he left the March 8 meeting because he was “angry and not wanting to say something I was going to regret.”
He stated that he spoke with the Fire Chief Association of Massachusetts President David Mottor, who advised Forgea to file a claim for violation of Open Meeting Law, civil rights violation and a claim with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Mottor, the fire chief in Easthampton, could not be reached for comment.
“I believe my position as volunteer Fire Chief/Strong Chief is a permanent appointment for life,” Forgea stated in the complaint.
The complaint says that under the Strong Chief Law of Massachusetts, “a Strong Chief cannot be removed from the position without cause.”
However, in dismissing the complaint on Monday, the Commission Against Discrimination said it does not have jurisdiction over the issue because Forgea is not an employee of the town, only a volunteer.
“The protections of Chapter 151B do not extend to independent contractors or volunteers, who are not regular employees,” the commission stated.
Forgea now has the option to appeal the decision. He said he has yet to read the decision, but feels his complaint was justified and the comments needed to be brought to light.
“We are so desperately short of help you have got to lead by example and you’ve got to go,” Forgea said. “The minute the fire chiefs start to not show up, how do you expect the volunteers to show up?”
According to the complaint, Forgea’s responsibilities include overseeing the operation of all aspects of the fire department, acting on behalf of the town in matters concerning the fire department and emergency management, disciplining volunteer members of the fire department, responding to budget concerns, hiring and terminating volunteer members of the fire department, and responding to all emergency situations in the town of Cummington.
Adams said that he and Forgea are back on speaking terms now and said he thinks the complaint Forgea filed was mostly the end of the matter and he hasn’t heard anything further about the issue since.
“I know I made him mad,” Adams said. “He’s done a good job training his assistants and his relief. I just wanted to start the conversation about the next generation taking over.”
Forgea said that he has been a volunteer for the duration of his involvement with the fire department and emergency management services, and stated that he has not taken the allowed $250 fire chief/strong chief stipend from the budget each year, because he “wants the money to be used for the fire department.”
With the recent closing of the Berkshire Trail Elementar School in town, Forgea said fewer families will want to move to Cummington, making it harder to find firefighters, a new chief or the “young blood” Adams is looking for.
“We’re declining in numbers, there’s not a great amount of people to draw from in a town of 970 people,” he said. “This is stuff we’ve got to overcome. We’ve got to have another way and we’ve got to be working together solve this.”
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.