Vets Applying to Ind. FD Must be Honorably Discharged

Sept. 09--An ordinance passed by the Evansville City Council Monday will mean future new hires on the city's Fire Department who previously served in the military must have nothing less than an honorable discharge.

Councilman Al Lindsey, a Sixth Ward Democrat and captain on the Fire Department, sponsored the measure and noted the Police Department already has such a requirement. He said all public safety officers should be held to high standards, and "I don't think the Police Department should have a higher standard than the Fire Department."

"We want people who can fulfill a commitment, who have character," said Lindsey, a veteran.

Larry Zuber, president of the Evansville firefighters' union, agreed with Lindsey about the need for high standards but said he was troubled by the ordinance's wording.

A military veteran "could do something that could equate to a misdemeanor in the real world" and not receive an honorable discharge, Zuber said. "I would hate to lose somebody who could be a good firefighter on a technicality."

Fire Chief Mike Connelly urged that Lindsey's proposal be considered at a later time, as part of a larger review of Fire Merit Commission rules. Lindsey, though, pushed for an up-or-down City Council vote on his ordinance. It passed 6-3.

Lindsey was joined by Council President John Friend, D-5th Ward, Vice President Dan Adams, D-At-large, Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward, Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, D-3rd Ward, and Connie Robinson, D-4th Ward. The no votes were from Conor O'Daniel, D-At-Large, Missy Mosby, D-2nd Ward and Jonathan Weaver, D-At-Large.

Weaver said via Twitter that the ordinance "sent a message to the world that is now harder for veterans to get a job at the Fire Department."

O'Daniel, an attorney who does many criminal defense cases, said he voted against the ordinance because of a belief in "second chances."

"I'd like to think all of us in this room are not the same people we were at 18, 19, 20 years old," O'Daniel said.

Supporters of the ordinance pointed to the Police Department's requirement and said an honorable discharge requirement is reasonable for veterans who choose to enter municipal public safety careers.

"I would suggest you have to work pretty hard to get a less than honorable discharge," said Council Vice President Dan Adams, D-At-Large, also a veteran.

In other business Monday, the City Council rejected 6-3 a request from Department of Metropolitan Development Director Kelley Coures to grant a midyear, $1,900 pay increase to a DMD employee, Lisa Angermeier, who has taken on new job responsibilities.

Coures said the increase would be a budget transfer, not a new budget appropriation, and that his salary would be cut to fund Angermeier's raise. Coures' salary is about $94,000, and Angermeier's is about $39,000.

"Take it out of my salary, pay me less and pay her more," Coures told the Council. "It is a good business decision to increase that position's pay."

McGinn noted the city has high expectations for DMD, and "if we expect them to do that we must give them the tools to do what we demand."

Others, however, said they feared the midyear increase would set a negative precedent. Robinson repeated her previous call for an update job study of city government workers.

The pay increase request was defeated 6-3, with Friend, Adams, Brinkerhoff-Riley, Mosby, Robinson and Lindsey voting no and O'Daniel, McGinn and Weaver voting yes.

Brinkerhoff-Riley at the end of Monday's meeting acknowledged last week's death of 2011 Evansville mayoral candidate and former Vanderburgh County Treasurer Rick Davis. Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and several City Council members attended Davis' funeral earlier Monday.

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