Losantville fire volunteers resign

By CYNTHIA AUKERMAN

News-Gazette reporter

Losantville Fire Chief David Fisher stormed out of Monday's town board meeting and then put out a page for other volunteers to turn in their equipment and resign from the department.

Aaron Schafer, town board president, said, "I didn't ask them to quit. They're the ones who quit on Losantville."

The uproar ensued after the Losantville Town Board adopted last month its version of Roberts Rules of Order for public meetings. Monday's meeting was the first conducted under the new system.

Schafer said last night's meeting was the smoothest he's seen, despite Fisher's walkout.

Fisher apparently believed the new rules required him to place his concerns on the agenda five days before the meetings. Schafer said he tried to tell Fisher that as a public official for the town, the ruling did not apply to him. He tried to tell Fisher he could speak during the "new business" portion of the meeting, but Fisher walked out before that portion of the meeting.

Schafer said, "I've never been unfair to him (Fisher). He knew from the last meeting how it was going to be conducted."

Past Losantville Town Board meetings, according to Schafer, have been out of control. He said one meeting was so "volatile" that Steve McCord, town marshal, felt compelled to record it because a citizen was ranting and using profanity.

Schafer said there were no particular issues that caused the unruly meetings in the past, and no issues specific to the fire department that caused Fisher's walkout and his page for other volunteers to resign.

"I asked people to check their personal vendettas at the door," Shafer said. "I just want to make the meetings tolerable. I won't change the rules again just to please a few who threw fits. This is a place for business, not personal vendettas."

The Indiana handbook for public officials states that Roberts Rules of Order are common practice for town boards and councils, which are allowed to make their own adjustments.

In addition to requiring items be placed on the agenda five days before a meeting, the new Losantville rules limit each person to five minutes in speaking. Anyone who can't get an issue on the agenda five days prior to the meeting is welcome to call a town board member, who can bring up any issue during the meetings.

The other town board members are Brent Hall and Greg Fisher.

After the fire chief and other volunteers quit, Schafer called the Randolph County dispatch and the Hagerstown and Modoc fire departments to make sure Losantville was covered.

The situation may be worked out after a fire department meeting Thursday, Schafer said, and several volunteers who turned in their equipment have already indicated they had changed their minds.

As of presstime, Fisher had not returned the News-Gazette's call.

The next Losantville Town Board meeting is Monday, July 7 at 7 p.m. at the community Building.