Vehicle & Equipment Turnover
While high expenditures on things such as internet, cell phone and fuel explain some of Robertson FPDs high operating cost, their internal bidding process along with frequency of equipment and vehicle turnover raises even more questions….
Including the question: What happen to an Ambulance the Former Chief, Assistant (now current) Chief and his son-in-law obtained through suspicious means? How and why did it end up in Mexico?
Purchasing, maintaining and replacing vehicles and fire safety equipment is one of the highest expenses for any fire protection district or department. The amount spent on maintenance and replacement is dictated by several factors.
How busy a District or Department is: High call volume means higher wear and tear on equipment and vehicles.
Amount of money spent on specific items: Are we getting a floor model ambulance or a customized “state-of-the-art.”
How often a City Council or a Board wants to replace equipment: Depending on a City or District’s cash flow may determine how long they hold or replace equipment.
Robertson FPD seems to have a higher than average equipment turnover…for example vehicles:
Robertson FPD seems to be replacing SUVs and ambulances at a higher than average rate by comparison to Hazelwood and Florissant Valley FPD. Additionally how and who they sell these older vehicles to differs:
Florissant Valley Fire Protection District—Keeps vehicles longer
•SUVs (8-13 years) & Ambulances (10 years with 160-180K+ miles)
•public auction with employees NOT receiving priority
Hazelwood Fire Department—keeps all vehicles as long as possible
•SUVs (10-11 years) & Ambulances (10-15 years with 160-180K+ miles)
•trade in old vehicles
•public auction with employee NOT receiving priority
Robertson’s turnover of vehicles is VERY different!
Robertson Fire Protection District—keeps vehicles for the least amount of time
•SUVs (3-6 years) & Ambulances (10 years with +/— 100K miles)
•”Internal Bidding Process”—Claim to sell ONLY to employees of the District
•Robertson FPD claims they do not keep records for ANY vehicles sold
So where are these vehicles going?
The Internal Bidding Process
At a December 2nd meeting, Chief Maynard Howell informed Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services that there was no written policy as requested but there was an unwritten policy of internal bidding of district vehicles and equipment. Furthermore, he stated the District only sells to employees of the district.
In the limited meeting minutes obtained, this internal bidding system seems to be more widespread, extends to district employee friends and relatives, former employees as well as former board members and the charges for these items seem to be far below market value.
REMEMBER: The Board of Directors approves the sale of all of these vehicles and equipment.
Here is where at least six vehicles owned by Robertson FPD and paid for with YOUR taxpayer dollars went as a result of this “Internal Bidding Process”:
TOTAL ESTIMATED LOSS TO TAXPAYERS (OR FINANCIAL GAIN TO ROBERTSON ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF): $109,721!
Many of these vehicles are worth more TODAY than what they were purchased…
This Internal Bidding Process goes far beyond SUVs!
Also includes iPads, industrial generators, computers, a plymo-vent system, AMBULANCES, etc…
THE COVER-UPS!
The 2011 Ford Expedition
In some cases the Robertson Meeting Minutes cover up what really happened with the vehicles.
While we stated above, according to the Robertson meeting minutes Chief Maynard Howell purchased the 2011 Ford Expedition, documents from the Missouri Department of Revenue reveal the true purchaser of the vehicle…the Chief’s son, Brian Howell.
In the June 14th, 2016 Robertson Board Meeting Joan Noel, President of the Board of Directors, approves the sale of the vehicle to Assistant Chief (now current Chief) Maynard Howell and then approves the minutes of the June 14th meeting as accurate for public record on June 28th, 2016.
HOWEVER, on July 5th Joan Noel signs over the 2011 Ford Expedition to a different purchaser from the public records, Brian Howell.
According to the Carfax and the Missouri DOR records, Brian Howell bought the vehicle for $6,000 with about 100,000 miles. He then drove it for about 4 years and then sold it with 150,000 miles for $9,000.
Howell made a $3,000 profit about 4 years and 50,000 miles after his purchase from Robertson Fire Protection District.
The Ambulance
What happened to an Ambulance the Former Chief, Assistant (now current) Chief and his son-in-law obtained through suspicious means? How and why did it end up in Mexico?
In 2008 Robertson FPD purchased a 2009 International 4300 LP Ambulance for $239,449.
According to the Robertson FPD Meeting Minutes, the Robertson Board unanimously approved the sale of this ambulance to Assistant Chief Howell (now current chief) for $7,501 on July 12th, 2018.
However, in a letter dated July 18th, 2018 obtained from the Missouri Department of Revenue, Robertson FPD’s Former Fire Chief Don Miner stated the District DONATED the ambulance to Assistant Chief Howell.
That same day, Assistant Chief Howell fills out a Missouri DOR General Affidavit (Form 768) declaring that he was GIFTING the ambulance to his son-in-law, presumably for sales tax purposes.
According to the ambulance title, Former Chief Miner then signs the title over to the Assistant Chief’s son-in-law claiming it to be a gift. This transaction occurred exactly 10 years and 3 days after the bill of sale date allowing mileage reporting exempt.
While the mileage was exempt from reporting to the Department of Revenue, an emissions test exposed the true mileage on a Carfax report.
According to the Carfax:
The Ambulance had NO KNOWN problems.
Had ONLY 44,402 total miles.
3 months after the ambulance was acquired, it was exported to MEXICO with Chief Howell’s son-in-law being the last known title holder.
At a City of Bridgeton Special Council Meeting on April 6th, 2022, Chief Howell suggested the ambulance had many problems including a balance issue and consistently broke down giving the impression that the ambulance was not worth anything.
If the ambulance was not worth anything, why would the Former Chief, Former Assistant (now current) Chief and his son-in-law go to such lengths to obtain, title and export the vehicle to Mexico?
2009 International 4300 LoPro Rescue (R1205). Fenton Fire. (2021, June 2). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.fentonfire.com/equipment/2009-international-4300-lopro-rescue-r1205/. (Click image to view advertisement)
Maybe this is why:
A 2009 International 4300 LP that mirrors the Robertson Fire Ambulance almost exactly sold a few years ago for $119,000 through Fenton Fire.
This suggests estimated losses (or personal financial gain to Chief Howell’s son-in-law) could be as much or more than $111,499.
Wait! How do we not know that all Fire Departments and Districts do this?
In 2008, Hazelwood Fire Department, Florissant Valley FPD and Robertson FPD all purchased a 2008 Ford Expedition…
Comparing which model was purchased, the length of ownership, and how the vehicle was sold shows the difference in how YOUR tax money is being used.
While both Hazelwood FD and Florissant Valley FPD bought the most inexpensive model, drove it for 10-13 years, and then at the end of the vehicle’s life, sold it in a public auction to the highest bidder.
Robertson FPD bought the most expensive model, kept it for only 5 years and then sold it using their “internal bidding process” to the only bidder, Former Chief Tilley for $10,000. This resulted in an estimated loss to taxpayers (or financial gain to Robertson Administrative staff) of $10,977.
Examples of Surplus and Sale of Vehicles & Equipment (directly from the Meeting Minutes):
Here are just a few examples of the sale of surplus vehicles and equipment. While we do not always know the condition or sometimes the age of the equipment, this use of an “internal bidding” system, where according to the minutes, there is only one bidder, makes this practice questionable.
“X’s” have been used to redact the names of certain individuals. We feel at the moment the responsibility for this “internal bidding process” lies with the Robertson FPD Board of Directors and the former and current Chiefs.
7/30/2013 minutes: “Plymo-vent system — declare surplus. A short discussion was held on the plymo-vent system. Mr. Bright made a motion to declare the plymo-vent system surplus, seconded by Mrs. Noel. Motion passed.
Sale of plymo-vent system: Mr. Bright made a motion to approve the sale and removal of the plymo-vent system to XXXX XXXXXXXXXX [Relative of Chief Howell] for the total sum of $1,500.00, seconded by Mrs. Noel. Motion passed.”
4/8/2014 minutes: “Surplus Equipment: Mr. Bright made a motion to surplus the 2008 Asus laptop and sale to Chief Miner for the amount of $79.00 and to surplus the 2012 Acer Ultra book and sale to former Chief Dave Tilley for the amount of $199.00, seconded by Mr. Neuner. Motion passed unanimously.”
4/14/2015 minutes: “Mr. Conley made a motion to approve the sale of the 2012 Acer Ultrabook to Mark Bright for the sum of $100.00, Mrs. Noel yes, Mr. Conley, yes. Motion passed.”
3/22/2016 minutes: “Surplus Generator Bid: :Mrs. Parkin made a motion to accept the closed sealed bid from XXXX XXXXXXX [Fire Marshal], also the only bid received for the surplus generator and equipment in the amount of $2,500.00, seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.”
6/14/2016 minutes: “Chief Miner reported that the new staff vehicles were in service for the Chief, Assistant Chief and Medical Officer. Chief Miner requested that the 2010 Ford Expedition, 2011 Ford Expedition and 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe be deemed as surplus. Mrs. Parkin made a motion to surplus the 2010 Ford Expedition-5007, 2011 Ford Expedition-5001 and the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe-5000, seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.
Chief Miner presented a request to sell the surplus vehicles. Mrs. Parkin made a motion to approve the sales of the 2010 Ford Expedition ($4,000-Medical Officer XXXX), 2011 Ford Expedition ($6,000-Assistant Chief Howell) and the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe ($10,000-Chief Miner), seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.”
12/13/2016 minutes: “Command Vehicle 5003: Mrs. Parkin made a motion to surplus the 2010 Ford Expedition #5003, seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.
Mrs. Parkin made a motion to approve the sale of the 2010 Ford Expedition to Fire Marshal XXXXXXX for the sale price of $4,000.00 seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.”
9/12/2017 minutes: “Surplus equipment: Mrs. Parkin made a motion to surplus iPad #314-302-####, seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion passed unanimously.
Mrs. Parkin made a motion to sell surplus iPad #314-302-#### to XXXXXX XXXXXX [Former Fire Marshal] for the amount of $20.00, seconded by Mr. Conley. Motion massed unanimously.”
REMEMBER: The Board of Directors approves the sale of all of these vehicles and equipment. ALSO, this is just what we know about!
Open Records Requests submitted to Robertson FPD:
To fully understand this practice of internal bidding, surplus and sale of district vehicles and equipment, three separate open records requests have been submitted to Robertson Fire Protection for copies of the District’s meeting minutes:
November 16th, 2021: a request for meeting minutes related to the purchase and sale of district equipment for the years of 2013 to 2021. While this request was not fulfilled, at a December 2nd, 2021 meeting with the district, members of Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services were presented incomplete stacks of meeting minutes to view. The limited number of minutes meeting obtained during that meeting was done through photographing the most relevant documents through quick inspection. This request to provide all such documents has still yet to be completely fulfilled. Only a list of current vehicles without current mileage was provided.
December 6th, 2021: a request for copies of all meeting minutes from 2010 to 2021 was submitted by Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services. This request has yet to be fulfilled.
December 12th, 2021: a request for copies of all meeting minutes for the years of 2008 and 2009 was submitted by Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services. This request has yet to be fulfilled.
January 3rd, 2022: Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services files a lawsuit against Robertson FPD in an attempt to get open records requests from the District.
March 31st, 2022: Robertson FPD begins sending over some of the documents requested. Many are incomplete with pages missing and portions of information redacted without explanation or justification.
April 19th, 2022: Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawsuit is filed against the Robertson Fire Protection board members, a former board member, Former and Current Chief and others.