Grand Jury Probing Fire Officials : Irregularities Charged in 2 North County Departments

Members of the San Diego County Grand Jury are questioning Rancho Santa Fe and Solana Beach firefighters about alleged improprieties, including the use of on-duty personnel by fire officials for personal errands and the cover-up of an instance when marijuana was found growing on Fire Department property.

While the grand jury does not confirm its investigations, several firefighters said they have been questioned by a committee of the grand jury, acting in its capacity as a watchdog of local government operations.

Many of the questions involve allegations in a letter delivered to Solana Beach City Manager Michael Huse in mid-January.

Huse said the unsigned letter accuses Peter Fox, chief of the fire departments in both communities, of using on-duty personnel for work at his house and said department commanders used firefighters for personal errands.

Pot Plants Discovered

Huse said the letter also claims that two marijuana plants growing behind the Solana Beach fire station were found by firemen but that the situation was covered up by fire officials.

The letter also claims Fire Department personnel accepted offers of free entry into nightclubs that require cover charges of other customers.

Fox said he has investigated the charges but could not comment until the Solana Beach City Council, meeting as the fire board next Thursday, discusses the matter.

The firefighters, who were interviewed individually by supervisors, were told that if they withheld information they would be “terminated,” according to one firefighter who asked not to be identified.

But, the firefighter said, the “investigation was (conducted) under extremely intimidating circumstances. The truth was not going to come out. They weren’t really aggressively seeking the truth.”

The two fire departments function with one management under a joint-powers agreement.

Huse said that virtually all of the allegations in the letter he received referred to events that occurred before the current City Council replaced the fire board on Oct. 1, 1986.

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Department is supervised by a three-member board. Ray Griset, chairman of the Rancho Santa Fe board, acknowledged that firemen had worked on Fox’s home, but not on company time.

Work Every Other Day

“The firemen only work every other day,” Griset said. “One’s a landscaper and one’s an electrician. Both worked for Peter, and he has the checks to show they have been paid.”

Firefighter Mike Shore, who also is an electrician, said he told questioners he had worked at Fox’s house, but it was “done off-duty, and I was paid for it.”

Shore said Fox asked him to do extensive work on the wiring of his house near Fairbanks Ranch, but he said the work “would not be economically feasible” for Fox.

Wyleen Luoma, general manager of the San Diego Employees Assn., which represents the Rancho Santa Fe firemen in contract talks, said there is a “fine line” between what is proper and what is improper when “a guy is told by a boss that ‘I could use your help, and I’d really appreciate it.’ ”

Most of the firefighters refused to speak to reporters, saying they had been told by supervisors that they would be fired if they did. Fox confirmed that there are Fire Department regulations against discussing grievance matters, but said they were designed for situations involving formal grievances by employees. There has not been a formal grievance filed in months, Fox said.

Neither Huse nor Griset could explain why the recent allegations had not been made through formal grievance procedures.

However, Bob Keilholtz, head of the Solana Beach Firefighters Assn., said, “In the past, grievances have been totally ridiculous.” At a special Tuesday night meeting of the Solana Beach fire board, Huse recommended that the city attorney review the city’s grievance procedures, which he said appear to be “unclear.”