NAHANT — The Board of Selectmen are grappling with a series of events in the Nahant Fire Department that led to a no confidence vote in Chief Michael Feinberg.
The Nahant Fire Fighters Association took the unanimous vote in August.
“Throughout his tenure in Nahant, Chief Feinberg has repeatedly demonstrated an inability to effectively communicate with his officers and with the rest of the full-time staff of the Nahant Fire Department,” the union wrote in a letter to the town two days after the vote. “He has also proven to be ineffective in personnel management. For the past twenty-eight years, Local 2718 has been able to resolve all differences with management without the filing of a grievance. Under Chief Feinberg, we have filed two grievances within the past eight months.
“This letter is being submitted to bring these ongoing issues to the attention of the Nahant Board of Selectmen and to make a record of the fact that all the full-time staff of the Nahant Fire Department have lost confidence in the ability of Chief Feinberg to effectively lead the department.”
Feinberg declined to comment.
The vote came several months after the entire department participated in a mandatory rescue training, during which the union felt the town was left unprotected.
Typically, eight full time firefighters take turns working two 24-hour shifts a week. Two full-time firefighters work each shift and cover all calls, including requests for medical assistance. When they respond to a call, an on-call firefighter is requested to man the station.
The team found out in March about the mandatory July training and immediately voiced concerns to Feinberg about the town being left without proper coverage, said Nahant Fire Fighters Association president Austin Antrim.
They were not made aware of any plan to bring in coverage, he said. However one part-time firefighter from Nahant and a Lynnfield Fire Department member did fill in.
Before the training began, the union felt their concerns were not being addressed, and wrote a formal letter to Feinberg, which was meant to be passed on to Town Administrator Jeff Chelgren and the Board of Selectmen.
In the letter, union leaders said they were grateful to receive the rescue swimmer training and certification, but strongly opposed to the lack of adequate coverage available from Nahant Fire personnel during the training.
“It is the opinion of the Nahant Fire Fighters Association that the planned staffing arrangement combined with the insistence of keeping a A-34 (Nahant Fire Department Ambulance) in service is placing the residents of Nahant at unnecessary risk,” the association said in the July 4 letter.
At a Board of Selectmen meeting on July 19, Chelgren said he never received the original letter when Selectman Rich Lombard asked him about it.
That omission was listed in the August letter as the most troubling incident and a major reason for taking the vote.
“The residents of Nahant were not protected adequately,” said Antrim.
At a meeting on August 16, Chelgren again told the board he did not have a copy of the letter for himself or the board, but Lombard said it had been hand delivered to him prior to the meeting.
Chelgren said that the letter was not properly cc’ed to himself and the Board of Selectmen, which goes against policy. Throughout the conversation, he repeatedly told selectmen he was uncomfortable because they were having an “inappropriate conversation.”
Selectman Enzo Barile said firefighters have gotten in trouble for speaking to the Board of Selectmen in the past, and that was likely the reason the letter wasn’t cc’ed to the panel. A department policy prevents members of the Fire Department from complaining to selectmen without facing discipline, up to and including termination.
“I was a call fireman and I was an EMT,” said Barile. “Being a fireman is all about trust. When you go into a fire, you need to trust the guy next to you and if you can’t trust what’s going on down there, that’s a major issue.”
Chelgren said he had a problem with selectmen making accusations and assumptions that an error was made on Feinberg’s part.
“We don’t not like him as a person but we feel he can’t appropriately advocate for his department and we question his judgment,” said Antrim. “We really want the residents of Nahant to know what is going on and, if it bothers them, to talk to their selectmen.”