OC volunteer firefighters vote no confidence in the fire chief by majority vote
OCEAN CITY, Md. – A storm could be brewing at the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company. At the heart of the storm leadership and while there aren’t too many details yet, we were able to confirm that, a majority of the volunteers have concerns about their Chief.
There were two different meetings for a vote. On August 8th, there was a meeting of the Volunteer Board of Directors. There was another meeting that took place August 22nd with the general membership.
Both had the same outcome. A majority vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Chris Larmore.
Ocean City’s Public Information Officer Jessica Waters tells 47 ABC, “We have not received anything official at this point. So, although I’ve heard a vote of no confidence it’s not been submitted to the council that an official vote was taken. If there’s grievances or concerns that they have we don’t know what those are at this point.”
Volunteer Fire Company President Jay Jester couldn’t get on camera, but he did confirm that the Board of Directors and general membership made the majority vote. They are currently in the process of drafting a letter to the mayor and city council regarding their issues. When we pushed for more answers from Jester about their concerns, he said he’d much rather wait until the letter is complete. He believes the council has the right to know the issues first before going to the public.
47 ABC also reached out to the firefighter’s union and they couldn’t do an on camera interview but they did make a statement saying:
“IAFF Local 4269 is committed to working with the Volunteer Fire company and support our fellow brothers and sisters as we focus on our mission serving and protecting residents and visitors.”
Even though we may not know their specific concerns, we were able to get some insight about the career members. A schedule change has happened in the past year, 24 hour shifts moving to 10 and 14 hour schedules causing some challenges. Many of the volunteers have covered these shifts. According to Jester, the morale and scheduling problems are a spill over from the union’s issues.
“Certainly the doors at city hall are always open the mayor and council have an amazing relationship with the fire company and we know they are very committed to continuing that,” Waters says.
Jester tells 47 ABC that once they have drafted their issues and submitted it, he will be able to discuss those details with us.
