South Summit Fire commissioners have started resigning. And according to the district’s attorney, it has nothing to do with the way the district is doing its job.
The South Summit Fire Protection District is an independent entity. Elected commissioners approve the district’s budget and oversee operations. All three — Jackson Coleman, Craig Fry and Kent Leavitt — also work as South Summit firefighters.
Or, that’s how it was until this week. On Thursday, Commission Chair Kent Leavitt stepped down and Dave Ure took his place.
According to the Office of the State Auditor, state statute bars fire commissioners from receiving more than $5,000 in compensation annually from their districts. It’s intended as a way to prevent corruption, but also creates a de facto ban on paid firefighters serving as commissioners.
Byron Ames, the district’s attorney, says he sees the law differently. But instead of going to court, all three commissioners are to resign and be replaced by June 30.
“There's no action on the part of the fire district that caused this to happen,” Ames said. “There's no allegation of misbehavior or malfeasance of funds, no attacks on level of service. No claim that somehow the South Summit Fire District is not doing its job.”
According to documents included in an open records request filed by the Summit County Attorney’s Office, state officials notified South Summit about the potential conflict on Nov. 2 after receiving an anonymous complaint.
Ames responded on the district’s behalf later that month, claiming the commissioners’ pay as firefighters shouldn’t count against the $5,000 cap — only their pay as commissioners.
The state didn’t accept Ames’ argument. In mid-January, the auditor’s office gave commissioners a choice: Continue in that role and forego compensation for firefighting duties, or step down as commissioners.
Ames said all three chose to step down. He proposed and he said the state accepted a timeline to have the three new commissioners in place by June 30.
The commissioners’ forced resignations comes as the North Summit Fire District is in the middle of a two-month suspension of its entire firefighting roster for alleged insubordination.
The letters from the auditor’s office show its investigation into South Summit began months before the North Summit suspension and weeks before Summit County fired the former North Summit fire chief in late November.
Ames said it was important to keep the two issues separate.
“There's people behind all of this. These are volunteer firefighters who, yes, they get a stipend, but they're still giving up time and money and potentially their lives to help us save property and lives,” Ames said. “And it's not fair to them and the service they give to just take everybody and just lump them into one bucket and say we have a problem with firefighters in our county.”
Ames is a former mayor of Francis and is also running for a seat on the Summit County Council. He said he has been the district’s attorney “for some time.”
The replacement commissioners will be subject to a South Summit-wide election as soon as next year.
