IAFF: The “Un-Endorsement”
Schaitberger Support Dwindles
IAFF local and state affiliates are increasingly talking about their waning support of president-for-life Harold Schaitberger.
One state association is reportedly rescinding an endorsement based on the so-called ethics inquiry of the IAFF executive board.
Schaitberger’s own local 2068 is said to be split in its support and members of the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters have urged Schaitberger to step down.
Allegations made by IAFF secretary-treasurer and chief financial officer Ed Kelly are the basis both for the re-think and the board investigation.
Given the specificity and the quality of the evidence and documentation, it’s worth asking just what is there to investigate?
Kelly provided a large amount of information, including three independent legal opinions which all conclude that Harold Schaitberger improperly awarded himself a staff pension for some eighteen years, costing IAFF members over $1,000,000.
He also provided evidence that Schaitberger changed the rules governing the staff pension system without board approval, probably to cover his tracks involving a prior deception to enrich himself.
Kelly divulged details, right down to decades-old policy documentation, that Schaitberger was demanding and receiving unauthorized and improper cash payments of tens-of-thousands of dollars for so-called unused vacation days.
These three items alone are manifest examples of fraud and financial misappropriation. Unless someone were to prove that Schaitberger did not take the pension or the cash or that the documentation was false, any logical burden of proof has been met several times over.
Any responsible board, of any organization, would rapidly vet the validity of these three examples and conclude that
- Schaitberger should step aside as,
- a criminal complaint is filed with DC and federal authorities,
- and internal charges are filed under the IAFF Constitution and By-laws.
The board’s lack of firm action is further proof of Schaitberger’s corrupt power.
