Former North County fire chiefs raked in 'fat cat' retirement 'bonuses,' lawsuits say [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Sep. 15—HAZELWOOD — The Robertson Fire Protection District is accusing two former chiefs of collecting nearly $500,000 in unlawful payouts, the latest salvo against the agency's old management from a board now made up of former district critics.

Two lawsuits filed Tuesday accuse former Robertson fire chiefs Don Miner and Maynard Howell of padding their retirement packages with hundreds of unauthorized sick hours and dozens of additional vacation days worth thousands of dollars. The lawsuits also say the former board allowed the two chiefs to purchase fire district vehicles at deep discounts.

In all, the payouts and vehicle sales amounted to at least $230,000 to Miner after he retired in June 2020 and $255,000 to Howell when he retired in June 2022, according to the lawsuits filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court. The amounts are on top of their regular pensions.

"These packages are that of fat cat CEOs in the private sector," Robertson Fire District Chairwoman Jennifer Guyton said at a Monday meeting where the board voted to approve filing the lawsuits. "The difference is you, the hard-working taxpayer who may be struggling to afford your own retirement, paid for these fat cat packages for a couple of public officials."

"The district believes these are nothing more than giant, unlawful government bonuses," she added.

Howell, reached Thursday, said the claims in the lawsuit were "bogus" and called Guyton, who led a successful campaign to recall all three former members of the Robertson Fire District board last year, "a vindictive woman."

"She won't provide any proof because she has none," Howell said. "We didn't do anything wrong."

Miner, who retired as University City Fire Chief in 2013 before taking the helm at Robertson shortly after, could not be reached for comment. Miner is now listed as president of the Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department in southwest Missouri.

The lawsuits raise the stakes in a fight that began over a year ago between Robertson and residents concerned that high costs at the district would bankrupt the city of Hazelwood. A nearly 30-year-old agreement required the city to pay millions to the district annually to compensate it for former pieces of fire district territory annexed by the city but still served by Robertson. Under an interim agreement, the city currently pays $4.5 million to the district while it negotiates a final resolution to the service payments.

The recall campaign was a rare bit of scrutiny of one of dozens of area fire districts, which levy property taxes to fund fire and emergency medical services. Many are controlled by boards backed by the powerful firefighters' union, Local 2665 of the Professional Fire Fighters of Eastern Missouri. Fire districts' tax receipts allow them to pay high salaries — the median compensation for a Robertson fire employee was over $110,000 in 2021 — and generous benefits. Some, including Robertson before the recall election, even offer free health insurance to their board members.

Now with access to the district's records, the new board is trying to claw back hundreds of thousands of dollars it says was improperly paid to former chiefs. Before the latest lawsuits, the new board had already sued former chief Todd Phillips, who was fired shortly after the November recall vote. That lawsuit claims the old board approved an "incredibly generous" $350,000 severance package designed to "insulate" Phillips from the incoming board. The district is also negotiating a new union contract after suing the local over a three-year contract the former board passed the night before the recall election.

Robertson's former board, Guyton said Monday, was willing to approve at least part of the generous packages offered to former chiefs Howell and Miner.

"They began with help from the former board selling themselves and other employees district vehicles," Guyton said Monday. "There were also iPads, computers, cellphones, expensive weights, exercise equipment, Sirius XM subscriptions for personal vehicles, extravagant conference trips, the list goes on."

"When it was all over, they worked with the district's own attorney to draw them up golden parachute retirement packages," she added.

Miner is accused in one of the lawsuits of structuring his package as a "consulting agreement" when he retired in June 2020, yet he provided no actual services to the district.

Among other payments in his consulting agreement, the district paid Miner for 260 accrued sick days despite district policy capping the maximum retirement payout at 140 days. The sick days that Miner accrued during his employment at Robertson had either been used or bought back under a district program, the lawsuit says.

Even so, on the last day of his employment, Miner was credited with 260 sick days worth $121,000 that were paid into his tax-exempt health expense account, the lawsuit alleges.

"There is no explanation in the district's records as to how or when or why these hours were accrued or credited to Miner's sick leave account," the district's lawsuit alleges.

'A piece of junk'

The district also allowed Miner to purchase a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe for $7,500. Its value today is estimated at about $25,000, the lawsuit says. The district also provided Miner with a cellphone, laptop, iPad, and internet service for the duration of his "consulting agreement," the lawsuit says.

In the lawsuit against Howell, the district also claims he was inexplicably credited with 260 sick days, which were paid into his health and retirement accounts, despite the district's 140 day cap. The lawsuit also claims that Howell was paid $43,000 for 88 vacation days despite the district's policy against accruing vacation time from year to year. He would have received 39 vacation days in 2022, and he used 16 that year, the lawsuit says.

In addition, the lawsuit says the district in 2018 sold Howell a 2008 ambulance with 44,000 miles on it for $7,501. The fair market value, the district said in its lawsuit, was $100,000.

"Shortly after defendant Howell's purchase, the ambulance appears to have been shipped to Mexico," the lawsuit says. "The sale of the ambulance to Howell was not conducted in accord with any public bidding process or with any consideration of fair market value."

After the ambulance sale was discovered by Guyton and other district critics last year, the prior board asked Howell to retire.

"There were some questionable things that happened with one of the vehicles that was bought," former Robertson board member Michael Conley said last week. "And over that we asked Maynard to resign and he turned in his resignation."

Howell on Thursday said the ambulance he bought was worth far less than $100,000.

"It's not worth nothing like that," he said. "It was a piece of junk when we bought it and continued to be a piece of junk."

'Who's the big winner?'

Howell said the recall vote and retribution against former Robertson employees was being driven by Hazelwood and large developers there, particularly the Kansas City-based logistics park developer NorthPoint, which owns warehouses in the city. Under an agreement with the city, the developer must reimburse Hazelwood for what the city paid to Robertson for fire services, Howell said.

"The city of Hazelwood is supporting her and so is NorthPoint development," he said of Guyton. "There's a lot to this story. There's much more to this story than is ever there to meet the eye. Who's the big winner? The city of Hazelwood and NorthPoint development."

While the fire district has long accused Hazelwood of pushing for the Robertson recall, Hazelwood City Manager Matthew Zimmerman said that's the first time he's heard the accusation that NorthPoint is driving it. NorthPoint has received property tax abatement from the city but it also has an agreement that requires it to reimburse the city for some of the Robertson Fire Protection District payments, as do several other developers, Zimmerman said.

"I don't understand what the whole recall election has to do with NorthPoint because I don't see any connection there," Zimmerman said. "They've never said to us they have a problem making these payments."

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