IN Deputy Chief Working Without Certifications

Nov. 22 -- SELLERSBURG, IN -- A 36-year veteran of the Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department who is the current deputy chief remains with the department despite having his state certifications revoked, raising concerns with one former staffer about double standards within the department.

John T. Cline, who has been with the Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department since 1982, was stripped of his fire and hazmat certifications in March 2016 when a judge reversed an appeal Cline had initially won against the Indiana Board of Fire Certifications and Education related to a previous charge for child exploitation. Cline appealed the reversal, which he lost in January, and has since been denied a request for a hearing.

On Nov. 12, Cline was nominated to continue in his role as deputy chief, a position he's held since 2004. The internal election is expected within the next three weeks. The News and Tribune previously reported that according to 2014 court records, Cline was at the time a paid full-time employee receiving about $22 per hour, with an additional annual $2,000 in incentive pay.

In 1999, Cline was arrested on 18 misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography and three felony counts for child exploitation. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to one count of each and served 60 days in jail with nearly eight years on supervised probation. He was also required to be registered as a sex offender for 10 years.

The state board was made aware of the conviction through an anonymous letter in 2014 and voted to revoke Cline's certifications in November that same year.

The board's decision was overturned on appeal, only for a different judge to later rule the appellate court had been incorrect in granting Cline's appeal. The final order resulting in Cline's certifications being revoked was issued in March 2016.

The board lists arson and child molestation among the crimes for which a firefighter could lose certifications, according to the final order from 2016.

Adam W. Sturm, spokesman with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, confirmed that Cline had been without the certifications since March 2016, despite the appeal process, but said that it would be up to the department to decide how to proceed with his employment. He also said there were no state laws to govern whether having a felony would impact his position at the department.

Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Chief Boyce Adams said in a statement to the News and Tribune that Cline has served his time for his past convictions and should not continue to be punished.

"John has been a valuable member and contributor to the department and has faithfully served the community, at his peril, since 1982," it reads, in part.

"[His] 1999 actions are in the past and he has done all that has been asked of him to take responsibility for them and pay the price imposed by the court. The [state] board's action is an additional and belated penalty; further punitive steps by this department are not in order."

The statement further adds that Cline is "deeply disappointed that I lost these certifications after investing the time, training and effort to earn them," but Adams said he is not required to have them. Under Indiana code, the certifications are required for full-time or volunteer firefighters hired or rehired after Jan. 1, 1988. Since he was hired in 1982, Cline is grandfathered in.

Multiple messages left for Adams at the station, by cell phone and text message, for follow-up questions were not returned.

A message left at the station was left unreturned by several members of the internal department board of directors, and two reached by cell phone declined to comment. Karen Tweed, board member and deputy chief, was able to give some information on how the election process works when reached at the station, but deferred questions about Cline, how the board operates and where to find the department bylaws to Adams.

The department, which provides services to Union, Carr and Silver Creek Townships, is contracted and paid through the Tri-Township Fire Protection District (FPD), said Mark Ball, retired Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Chief and consultant for the FPD. For the fiscal year ending in 2018, the department received $1.4 million from the FPD.

The FPD does not handle personnel matters within the department, Ball said. Neither does the Sellersburg Town Council.

Rick Cannon, who served on the department for 32 years — 15 of those as an internal board member — before recently being let go, said the department has double standards when it comes to personnel decisions. Cannon was most recently a volunteer, having served two years as a paid employee in the late 2000s.

He said he was let go in October when the internal board determined he broke one of the bylaws by using the department's name for campaign purposes.

Cannon, who ran unsuccessfully for Carr Township Trustee in Clark County, was volunteering with his wife in late September at the Community Kitchen in Jeffersonville, when he said one of the staff asked he and some of the others to help clean the walk-in cooler.

Cannon said without thinking about it, he got a sweatshirt from his truck with the “Sellersburg Fire Department” logo and set about cleaning. A family member was taking photos, which she later posted on his campaign Facebook page.

Cannon said he was called in to talk to the board the following day, and dismissed at a subsequent meeting.

“This is not the first time they've done anything to me or the members of my station,” he said. Cannon said that in 2010, he was employed by the department as a firefighter investigator inspector but when he didn't receive his EMT certification within a specified timeframe, was taken off as a paid employee.

He said that the following year, two people were hired for the same position, without EMT certification.

Another former firefighter, Chad Heishman, was stripped of his certifications and fired after being charged with child molestation in 2012, Cannon said.

Online court records show Heishman pleaded guilty in 2014 to a class C felony for child molestation and sentenced to four years. Of that, he served six days in jail with the remainder on probation. The Indiana Board of Fire Certifications and Education shows a Mandatory Firefighter certification issued to Heishman in 2006 has been revoked; no other certifications are listed.

Leadership positions — chief, deputy chiefs, lieutenants, captains, majors and board members — at the Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department are filled through an internal election, Tweed said.

Board members are not up for re-election this year, but Tweed said she believes that all the other positions, which range from two- to four-year terms, are. The spots are elected by the department's 50 to 55 active firefighters, she said. All board members are also firefighters.

The first round of nominations were held Nov. 12, and Cannon, who attended the meeting to present his case to the board on his dismissal, said Cline was nominated for another term as deputy chief at that meeting.

The second round of nominations will be at the regular board meeting Monday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. at the fire station at 426 E. Utica Road in Sellersburg. The election will be two weeks after that. Cline is currently unopposed in his nomination and unless he is contested in the second round, is expected to win the election.

— Digital Editor Elizabeth DePompei contributed to this story.

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