Indian Beach – The new fire chief in Indian Beach is stirring up quite a commotion for only being appointed chief little more than a week. Apparently he retired from his last post right in the middle of an investigation regarding abuse of his power and allegations of improperly touching firefighters. The town had thirty applicants for the job and interviewed eight of those thirty. And their final choice was Bernie Becker who retired from Clearcreek, Ohio who retired from there in July during the investigation.
Folks in Indian Beach, and the rest of the Crystal Coast are pretty concerned. I guess I can understand the concern. If you do an Internet search for the new chief, you’ll get his homepage, as well as a few articles highlighting his alleged wrongdoings, and the investigation that followed. During the investigation Becker retired and the investigation came to a halt.
Now the commissioner Karl Garlock motions to appoint Becker as fire chief, and commissioner Betsy Lane seconds the motion. I am curious though, did these commissioners do a google search on ANY of the fire chief applicants? I mean come on who even pays or spends time on a background check without doing a free Internet search on prospective employees names? Scary stuff indeed. Who knows maybe they did due diligence and this was the best they found. Heck, they’re only paying someone $50K/year for someone to keep a whole town safe from fire.
Granted Chief Becker was never convicted of any wrongdoing, and maybe he deserves his chance. Is it possible he brings some valuable insight and experience to the table? I hope so. However, I hope the Indian Beach firefighters don’t suffer any abuse like he’s been accused of. It will be interesting to see what develops. One thing’s for sure, the Crystal Coast already has their eyes on Chief Becker, and he would be well advised to keep the proverbial “I’s dotted and T’s crossed”.
What really puzzles me, is why did the town of Clearcreek ended its investigation? So now Indian Beach fire department gets stuck with the idea our fire chief may be abusing firefighters. Thanks Clearcreek, OH.
Sir:
Would you have any further info on Chief Becker? I am an Assistant Chief with the City of Salisbury Fire Department in Salisbury, MD and Mr. Becker has applied for our vacant chief position. I googled his name myself and found numerous articles that could certainly reflect upon Mr. Becker’s integrity.
Currently, Mr. Becker is one of three (3) finalists for the position. I would certainly like to know what our department could be getting into if he is appointed as our chief as these allegations could have long-standing ramifications.
As I understand things, Becker was apparently acquited of the allegations, however, I have deep concerns and would like to research the matter further.
For the record, I am NOT a candidate nor was I ever a candidate for the position. My request is purely a “fact finding mission” so that we may attempt to better educate our department on any prospective candidate for such a high level position.
Thank you for any aid you may be able to provide in this matter and have a Happy Thanksgiving…
Respectfully,
Jim Gladwell
Assistant Chief
2nd Platoon
Salisbury Fire Department
325 Cypress Street
Salisbury, MD 21801
410.548.3120
Chief Gladwell,
Unfortunately I do not have any further info on Chief Becker. The points I was trying to get across when writing this article were that instead of promoting from within, the Indian Beach hires from another state. The other point was that Clearcreek OH, halted their investigation since he retired. it doesn’t seem fair that other departments are now stuck speculating on his alleged wrongdoings, and Mr. Becker is stuck with the stigma of something he may have not even done.
My advice would be to contact people in Indian Beach to find out why his employment there was so short.
Best of luck to you in your search.
-Jason