Turmoil from a mass exodus of staff and leadership at the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District earlier this year continues to ripple through the department.
Board President Emily Horvath, who led the charge to overhaul the district’s leadership and protocols, has resigned just months into her term.
Her resignation adds to a growing list of departures since the contentious May board election, in which candidates split into two camps: those who supported maintaining the status quo, and those calling for more transparency and improved budget management.
The reform-minded candidates, led by Horvath, swept the election. But before the new board was sworn in, the two remaining longtime board members, the fire chief and nine firefighters resigned.
In the months that followed, two newly appointed board members also came and went. Horvath’s resignation makes three departures from the new board.
Horvath officially resigned Nov. 25, citing a broad breakdown in board functioning as her primary reason for leaving.
She posted her resignation letter on Facebook the same day.
“I resigned because the environment within the board had reached a point where I could no longer effectively serve the community,” she wrote. “I believed strongly in the direction I was taking the department, but over the past several weeks, the internal dynamics deteriorated to a level that made productive leadership impossible.”
The fire department serves the western part of La Plata County and encompass about 258 square miles.
Horvath declined a phone interview but answered questions from The Durango Herald in writing.
She said her decision stemmed from several factors: deteriorating relationships among board members, escalating unprofessionalism, an uneven distribution of workload, and growing concerns about the board overstepping into day-to-day district operations. She also said board members clashed over which candidate to hire as the new fire chief, and continuously allowed staff members to influence board members’ decisions.
Her responses describe a board unprepared for the administrative problems uncovered after the election and strained under public scrutiny.
According to Horvath and board minutes, various administrative issues surfaced in the months after the new board took over.
The state nearly revoked the district’s EMS license following a backlog of unsubmitted patient care reports. False external reports triggered a state audit, and the district faced concerns raised by La Plata County ambulance service officials.
“When our board took over, the district was in far worse condition than most community members realized,” Horvath wrote. “The department was on the verge of collapse, and our State EMS license was close to being revoked. That alone could have shut down the district’s ability to provide essential services.”
She also described escalating conflict on the board in the weeks before her resignation.
“Board members stopped communicating, allowed staff to influence board decisions, and permitted false rumors to circulate,” she wrote. “During an emergency meeting to address these issues, I was verbally attacked and belittled by a fellow board member in front of staff and volunteers.”
Horvath said the working environment became untenable.
Several board members threatened to quit if Horvath did not resign, she said.
“I resigned because the environment within the board had reached a point where I could no longer effectively serve the community,” she said.
The remaining board members declined requests for comment.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
