Carroll hopes to close door on ESD issues
Recently the Liberty County ESD No. 2 board alleged insubordination by Chief Benny Carroll following comments he made publicly at commissioner’s court when announcing his resignation. Now Carroll is trying to close that chapter in hopes everyone can move on.
He reached out to The Vindicator last week to respond to those allegations and stated that he in no way abused his official vehicle or used any more fuel than usual.
From Page 1
“I just want to go forward. I wish the board would just let it lie. There is no reason to bring my name back up and posting things when they know the truth; I know the truth. Let’s just leave it at that. I resigned. I’m at home with my kids now. I’m enjoying my life. I’m not going to join another department; I just want to be left alone,” said Carroll.
He further explained that the relationship between him and the board had become too strained and that he could no longer work for them.
“ It didn’t work out when I became your chief,” he said.
ESD No. 2 Board President Johnny Slack believes the entire ordeal only became public following Carroll’s comments and that nothing was aired out in public on their part until that occurred.
“Chief Carroll wishes the board would just let it lie; he might remember that he started this public conversation in the commissioner’s court. In the last 90 days, the board has kept these internal personnel matters private as is appropriate. We will continue to follow the law and do our sworn duty in service of all the communities in the district,” said Slack.
While there is clearly a rift between the two sides, Carroll believes he had some great times in his role as chief, especially the two and a half years under the banner of the Hull- Daisetta Volunteer Fire Department, which was replaced by the ESD this past May.
“ Whenever it was Hull- Daisetta Volunteer Fire Department Inc., we worked so good together, we bought things together even with our funding that we had, and we helped out with each other all of the time. It was so great,” said Carroll.
All but one current board member served on the ESD during that time.
Carroll believes the relationship between the former HDVFD and ESD No. 2 was phenomenal and by far the best in Liberty County.
According to Carroll, that changed following the ESD taking over the contract services of the department. However, he acknowledged that it had become a common practice in Texas for those districts to run their departments.
According to Carroll, that change led to the ESD requesting that department members be let go.
The ESD, however, said they had simply decided to let those former HDVFD members reapply to join the new department and follow ESD policies, such as background checks on members.
During that time, there was some involvement by County Commissioner Pct. 1 Bruce Karbowski and Fire Marshal Bill Hergemueller that appeared to help reinstate those firefighters.
“ The board changed it the 23rd, brought everybody back, retracted what they did,” said Carroll.
According to Carroll, while firefighters came back, it was not like it had been before, and he felt that they had perhaps lost confidence in the ESD.
Now he wants to appeal to all those dedicated individuals to follow their own paths and not him and do what is best for them and the community.
“We’ve got to have something for this community, for fire safety, we’ve got to have something,” said Carroll.
Slack insists that fire protection is in place and will continue to be there for the citizens in the area.
“The ESD 2 district and all its communities will have and will continue to have good fire service. These changes do not mean that we have no fire department or members. We do have members, and we do have mutual aid service providers,” said Slack.
Ultimately, Carroll has chosen a different path and hopes the ESD will succeed in serving the community.
Finally, he offered his support for new Interim Chief J.T. Smith, who served as assistant chief under Carroll, and a helping hand if ever called on.
“I’m more than willing to help them whenever they need me and be there to help the interim chief,” concluded Carroll.
Slack agreed that he hoped everyone could move on from this ordeal and get back to doing the business of the ESD.
“The ESD has no choice but to serve the community as that’s the decision the voters made for the district some 40 years ago. It is a government entity, not a small non-profit fire corporation; there is a significant difference according to the law. While we will continue to do the right thing, we wish Mr. Carroll luck and hope this chapter can be closed as well,” concluded Slack.