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All of the documents that I referenced are from the City of Warwick which I had to pay for and had to pull teeth to get as the mayor and fire chief create numerous obstacles when obtaining documents. Here is how the fire chief intentionally misled the council members:

1. He told the city council 2 years in a row that the floaters cover the overtime at straight time to save the city money. Unfortunately he lied as the accountability documents indicate that in the first fiscal quarter (90 days) there were 1105 vacation days and every one was covered at the overtime rate. Then he backpedaled.

2. He told the city council that there were a total of 1200 sick days so far this year, but his own letter to me signed by him, he states that there were 1915 sick days up until May 21st. When he was shown the document with his signature on it he backpedaled.

3. Under access to public records he stated on paper that no substitution or change of shift documents exist. That was an out right lie. Form 109 change of shift is the document. Bottom line is that he was deceptive.

As far as the documents. Mayor, you took the bait. The request for $61.50 was made to bust the mayors chops as every time I or anyone else asks for documents we are told that the cost is $15/hr of research, the first hour is free, and it is 15 cents per page to copy. That was a joke meant to get under the mayors paper thin skin and it worked perfectly.

As far as the vacation coverage. The chief stated " no more than 6 "men" are on vacation at any time. When you look at the accountability sheets there are numerous cases of 7 & 8 "men" on vacation. Unfortunately, the abbreviation FAO next to the mans name is not common knowledge that that abbreviation represents a dispatcher. Legitimate mistake on my part, however, the documents clearly indicate more than 6 "men" on vacation. So beat me up on that point if you wish. However, here is an instance were 7 fire fighters were on vacation. This data came from the accountability sheets of 9/12/16.

September 12/2016

Vacation:

Capt. Michael Fontenault vacation

Pvt. Michael Mcallister vacation

Lt. George Lusignan vacation

Pvt. Michael Cabral vacation

RLt. Kevin Rivet vacation

Pvt. Randall Hoxie vacation

Pvt. Alex Torres vacation

At the end of the day, the last 4 chiefs have all testified that overtime will be reduced and it never is. This chief stated that the 8 extra men cost the city 1 million dollars and that they saved $300,000 is overtime. So we spent 1 million, plus benefits, to save $300,000? Smart move.

But what neither this article or the chief or the mayor have addressed, is how a man can be off for 12 days and call in sick on his first day back from vacation and get paid for the day and not have the day reduced from his accrued sick time. I wonder when they will discuss that point. By the way everyone, the department had 680 sick days in the first 90 days of the fiscal year, 492 substitutions, and 1105 vacation days. Every vacation day was covered at the overtime rate. Not withstanding the value of this years sick time amounts to in excess of $900,000 that the chief refused to itemize in a line item, even after the council passed an ordinance to do so. What are they hiding.

Enough is enough. Math doesn't lie ! So kill the messenger, let the personal attacks fly.