An ugly public dispute among top officers of the Granby Fire Department, including a vote of “no confidence” in the chief, suggests that the town’s public safety may be compromised.
Town officials must move quickly to heal the rift by considering steps such as hiring a professional mediator, before lives and property truly are put at risk.
An outside investigator has cleared Fire Chief John E. Mitchell Jr. of charges that he harassed Lt. Mike Pandora and created a hostile work environment. However, attorney John M. Collins identified an “obvious lack of trust” between Mitchell and Pandora, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 4172, which represents about 30 Granby firefighters.
Mitchell, who has been chief since January 2017, remains on paid administrative leave while the town further reviews a June 4 letter signed by 20 firefighters declaring no confidence in the chief and alleging misconduct in his leadership and behavior, including reckless driving when responding to some fire calls and “anger issues.” Also under review is the resignation of Assistant Chief George Randall in May, and the dismissal of Deputy Chief Bruce Carpenter after a public dispute with Mitchell when Town Meeting approved spending $225,000 on a new fire truck, also in May.
Town Administrator Christopher Martin said early this month that he expected the latest investigation will be concluded by the end of August. We hope so, because Mitchell, as well as Granby residents, deserve to know whether there is any evidence to support the allegations made against him.
David J. Seiffert, a retired fire chief, has been appointed fire services administrator while Mitchell is on leave. “Right now we have an interim administrator in the department as we try to move forward and hopefully allay concerns of citizens,” Martin said.
Mitchell, of South Hadley, was selected from among three finalists to succeed Russell Anderson, who retired in March 2016 after 10 years as chief. Mitchell had been fire chief at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield.
When Mitchell arrived in Granby, he found a Fire Department that was “in shambles. There was a serious lack of leadership, morale was extremely low, there was ‘in-fighting’ between the day staff that was spilling over into the call-force and a valuable member of the full-time staff was ready to walk out the door,” Mitchell wrote June 25 in a 12-page response to the no-confidence letter and charges made by Pandora.
Members of the firefighters’ union who signed the letter to the Select Board accused Mitchell of manipulation, hostility, censorship, lack of communication, retaliation and threatening terminations. The letter claims that Mitchell “delegates a significant amount of his Chief duties to the day staff members. When he does respond to calls, he drives at a high rate of speed and is potentially reckless and unsafe, both to himself, members and the general public.”
According to Pandora, “It’s getting to a point because of Chief Mitchell and how he treats people and how he responds to people — including the general public — firefighters and EMTs no longer want to sign up for calls or take a shift.”
Mitchell responded by saying that he was the victim of a “smear campaign,” adding, “I am disappointed by the authors of this letter and those members of the department who signed this letter which include false, slanderous, ridiculous and factless accusations.”
The town hired Collins, a labor consultant, to investigate the formal complaints made by Pandora. Collins’ report sided with Mitchell, concluding that he had not violated any state or federal anti-discrimination laws. Collins wrote, “It is apparent that Mr. Pandora has a great many friends that are more than willing to take his side, and in this case support the continuing efforts … Mr. Pandora appears to be making to undermine the chief and drive him out,” adding that there is an “acute need to address the strained relationship” between Mitchell and Pandora.
We agree. If Mitchell stays as chief, he must have the authority to make changes within the department. For his part, Mitchell must clearly communicate with Pandora and members of the firefighters’ union his goals and how they can work together to achieve them. If a mediator is needed to help heal the wounds, the town should pay for that service.
Granby’s 6,300 residents deserve nothing less than a professional Fire Department ready to preserve the public’s safety.