When the King George County Board of Supervisors recognized unusual turnover in the Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Department earlier this year, Chair T.C. Collins recorded conversations with recently departed personnel.
Collins said he pursued the conversations to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges within the department, and he recorded so that “no one could change their tune.”
The supervisors later authorized an independent study on the climate in the department to be conducted by the Virginia Institute of Government (VIG) at a cost of $12,000.
During a meeting earlier this week, Supervisor Ken Stroud questioned Collins on the VIG climate study, stating that it could’ve been conducted in-house and led by County Administrator Matthew Smolnik to save money.
Stroud also requested to listen to Collins’ recordings but was rebuffed.
“Then I can’t support it,” said Stroud of the study after Collins turned down his request.
“It’s not up for a vote. I talked to these people in confidence,” Collins said … “I’m not going to provide my recorded conversations with departed members of the fire department.”
In February, the fire department was 21 people understaffed. Additionally, seven members left in a five-month period between late 2023 and early 2024.
Recruitment and retention remain a concern, board members said. Collins said he learned from his recorded conversations that employees did not depart because of salary, instead, they left because they did not enjoy their work environment.
However, some are unsure if King George’s situation is unique. Supervisor David Sullins asked Collins if it would be prudent to inquire with other departments in the Fredericksburg area regarding turnover before diving into the climate study.
“It’s a very dangerous, high-demanding job,” Sullins said. “So, maybe they’re just finding another thing to do.”
Both Stroud and a public speaker questioned why the climate study only concerns the fire department. The county saw significant turnover throughout its administrative offices once the board’s three new members — Sullins, Stroud and William Davis — were seated in January.
The speaker questioned why Collins is holding on to recordings he refuses to share with other board members, while also declaring that the VIG will be prohibited from recording conversations during the study.
“It’s concerning that a member of this board has recorded conversations with former employees, but they don’t want a research team from an academic institution to be able to use recordings to help develop their reports,” the speaker said.
Collins said he’s hopeful that fire department personnel will speak freely about work conditions during the VIG study. He told Stroud that if Smolnik conducted the study, the employees might be hesitant to speak out on any concerns.
“I do not want our inside people asking questions to our inside people,” Collins said. “It needs to be completely outside of this county, so they can get true answers to the things that exist. So, if you put Mr. Smolnik in charge of it, they’re going to tell Mr. Smolnik what they think Mr. Smolnik wants to hear.”
In other business, the board voted 4-1 to move forward with the vision and mission statement drafted by Stroud. Vice Chair Cathy Binder was the lone dissenting vote. Binder suggested edits that were not included in the final draft. She also believed more public input was needed if the statements were to be for the county and not just the board of supervisors.
The board also decided to draft a resolution for the Dec. 17 meeting stating legislative priorities to be sent to the General Assembly. One of the requests was for the General Assembly to end a law that requires governing bodies to meet openly if more than two members are present.
The supervisors will also ask that the Virginia Department of Transportation includes King George in conversations of promoting U.S. Route 301 as an alternative to Interstate 95 since the increased traffic leads to congestion, accidents and other safety issues. They also plan to ask the state to offer support for localities that do not wish to be a part of a Regional Transportation Authority.
