Michael E. Cameron, a facilities maintenance technician for Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One, was fired June 30 after an internal investigation found he had been ordering supplies through the district for personal use.
“They terminated him at the end of a special board meeting on Tuesday,” said Joe Quinn, a public information officer for the fire district. “It appears to us that, allegedly, he was acquiring more than he needs for the job.”
Cameron’s attorney, Zenon Olbertz, said there was a dispute going on and his client offered to resign, but “they didn’t accept his resignation.”
“There is a continuing dispute that has not been resolved by the termination,” Olbertz said.
Quinn said Cameron’s job was to order supplies for the Fire District 5, and he was a single-man operation who had held his position for about 30 years.
“It was his job to order parts,” Quinn said. “But it was noticed eventually that these orders didn’t seem to match up with his (the district’s) needs. He ordered a lot of PVC pipe, several thousand dollars worth, and lawn sprinklers and controllers.”
Quinn said the fire district has about 10 facilities including stations and maintenance shops that have sprinkler systems, and the district will replace a broken sprinkler head once in a while.
But “those don’t require thousands of dollars worth of supplies,” he said. “The rub is that he has a lawn sprinkler business on the side.”
A news release from the fire department said Cameron had purchased several thousand dollars worth of lawn sprinkler pipe and related materials since February 2002.
“Cameron ... ordered an automotive polisher or buffer, related items and a dozen oil filters,” the fire department said in the release. “The district has no need for such a buffer; the oil filters are not the type used by the district in its vehicles or its air compressor. None of the foregoing items can be found at the shop or otherwise in the inventory of property at the department.”
The release also said Cameron has a 40-foot boat which utilizes the type of oil filters he allegedly ordered. Those filters are reportedly still unaccounted for.
The case is under investigation by the state auditor’s fraud unit.
“We’re in the process of completing our review of the situation,” said Mindy Chambers, spokesperson for the state auditor’s office. “As soon as the investigation is complete, we will share our conclusions with law enforcement.”
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