Maine's fire chief said morale was improving. Serious allegations continued to come in.

Lina Portman3 days ago

1 3 minutes read

AUGUSTA, Maine — Weeks after Maine’s fire marshal told lawmakers that morale was improving at the office under investigation for an alleged toxic culture, he received an email from an inspector who wanted to share his final thoughts before resigning.

The June 7 email to Richard McCarthy repeatedly mentioned a “Good Old Boys Club” that former Detective Daryen Granata described as “currently running the agency.”

Granata highlighted concerns about an unfair training system and Deputy Fire Commissioner Greg Day, who heads the inspections division and whom Granata accused of abusing overtime, arriving 37 minutes late to his first meeting before yelling at staff to “get off your computers” and promoting a “buddy” to South Division supervisor over more qualified inspectors.

“Decisions like this kill morale throughout the agency,” Granata wrote in the email obtained by the Bangor Daily News.

McCarthy has received other complaints in recent months about his other assistant fire marshal, Troy Gardner, who oversees the investigations division. None of the complaints obtained this month had been previously made public. Taken together, they call into question how much the office has changed since lawmakers scrutinized the agency following the BDN reports last year.

Maine State Law Enforcement Association Executive Director Kevin Anderson, whose bargaining unit represents fire investigators, sent McCarthy a complaint in March about Gardner's “aggressive, unprofessional and threatening” behavior at a labor-management meeting that McCarthy also attended.

Gardner, a former chief of criminal investigations for the Maine State Police, was “looking to start a fight” at the meeting, which he considered a “ploy.” [by] “I/we to get more dirt on him,” Anderson wrote.

In April, investigator Brady Smith emailed McCarthy to say he left the office because of Gardner. Smith described Gardner as a “corrupt” executive whose “play-by-my-rules style of thinking” has “completely ruined your agency.”

Richard McCarthy has been named Maine's next fire commissioner, overseeing the office that oversees fire education and arson investigations. But staff evaluations show that fire investigators have for years expressed concerns about how their workplace is run.

Asked for comment Thursday, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Shannon Moss said in an emailed response that McCarthy had received a copy of the message stating that “we are unable to discuss matters of staff “.

Lawmakers are not currently in session in Augusta, but the chairs of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, Rep. Sue Salisbury, Democrat of Westbrook, and Sen. Pinny Beebe-Center, Democrat of Rockland, said that They were “aware of many of these complaints and took them very seriously.”

“We are currently reviewing these concerns in more detail to determine next steps,” Salisbury said.

Day and Gardner did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Smith, who is Presque Isle's deputy police chief, or Anderson, the leader of the state's law enforcement union.

Granata, who is now Cape Elizabeth harbor captain after working in the fire marshal's office for six years and in law enforcement for more than 30 years, said he feels bad for his former colleagues who still work for the office, although he said several are looking to join. starting.

“The sheer lack of leadership and the way they operate is just astounding to me,” Granata said. “There’s just no integrity.”

Last July, the Legislature's watchdog confirmed concerns from staff in the fire marshal's office, including from investigators who described being rushed to complete their work and feeling pressured to discover that crimes had been committed. Investigators also found that relationships with management were more difficult than responding to deadly fires.

In December, the Maine Labor Relations Board found that the bureau had acted in “flagrant violation” of the union contract for members of the investigations division.

McCarthy and Public Safety Committee member Michael Sauschuck appeared at a May 15 joint hearing of the Legislature's Oversight and Criminal Justice committees to explain how they were responding to the litany of concerns about the office of the fire marshal.

McCarthy provided few details when lawmakers asked him how he was rebuilding trust with staff on an individual basis, other than saying he was working to build greater “cohesion” by implementing more consistent policies across inspection and investigation divisions, holding more meetings and updating outdated policies.

“I think morale is improving,” McCarthy said. “There is still work to be done, but I believe the situation is improving. »