Former Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Tim Kinder told The Chronicle on Thursday that while he has mixed emotions about the way his tenure ended, he’s tried to move on and take the lessons learned with him as he seeks to continue his career.
Documents released to The Chronicle from Fire District 6 through a public records request shed more light on Kinder’s unexpected resignation on April 8. The move came after more than three hours of deliberation by the District 6 Board of Fire Commissioners over the span of two executive sessions in early April and in the midst of a 90-day review of Kinder’s performance as chief.
Kinder wrote in his appeal of a decision by the Washington State Employment Services Department to deny him unemployment benefits that he signed a severance agreement while under duress. Kinder claimed that Board Chair James Martin told him if he did not sign the agreement, the board would move to terminate his employment for cause. He received compensation totaling more than $62,000 for signing away his right to pursue legal action against Fire District 6 or its representatives.
“On April 8, during an executive session by the Board of Fire Commissioners for Lewis County Fire District 6, I was notified by Board Chairman James Martin, the board had decided to part from my services as fire chief, and asked if I would agree to a Mutually (sic) agreed upon separation from the department,” Kinder wrote. “I did inquire to a reason for my the departure; they did not wish to give me a reason at this time, they just wanted to go a different direction and felt I was not the employee to do it.”
In a letter dated May 31, the state informed him that it denied his claim because “We decided you didn’t have a good reason for quitting your job.” Kinder informed The Chronicle that his appeal was successful, but chose not to provide further details. Martin said District 6 did not challenge Kinder’s unemployment claim.
Kinder gave an answer of “I do not know,” in response to a question from the state asking whether he knew of a reason why he was asked to resign, an answer he repeated when asked Thursday. Documents show his performance had been under scrutiny by District 6 Commissioners for most of 2019.
The District 6 Board moved on Jan. 8 to initiate a 90-day review of items agreed to by Kinder during an executive session. Those included Kinder doing “his best” to be in the office from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., leading a staff meeting every two weeks and ceding weekly truck checks to other personnel. Kinder asked for a 45-day review of his performance on Jan. 22 to ensure that he was making the changes requested of him.
“I wanted to make sure I was doing what I was asked and that I had time to make any course corrections,” Kinder said. “I felt like I was making progress when they asked me to resign, but I have to be able to respect their decision of what they want to do. If they didn’t feel l was part of the solution, it’s well within their rights to let me go.”
Following an executive session on March 26, Martin announced a 90-day review of the fire district and its leadership. Nine District 6 employees met with the board on April 1 for individual interviews lasting 15 minutes each. Kinder resigned one week later.
Martin declined to elaborate Thursday on what led the board to seek Kinder’s resignation, citing the terms of the severance agreement and legal counsel.
“Just like with any employee, you’re always reviewing their performance to see if they’re making their marks,” Martin said. “There was a 90-day review from his last anniversary date that we did, and you can see under the public minutes that we had a few things we wanted to see worked on.”
Chehalis Fire Chief Ken Cardinale recently began serving as interim chief of Fire District 6 while a permanent chief is sought. District 6 is allowing the Chehalis Fire Department to operate out of its main station on Jackson Highway indefinitely, due to the deteriorated condition of the fire station in downtown Chehalis.
District 6 officials plan to conduct a first review of applications later this month, Martin said. Of the 33 applications received, only four are from persons residing in Washington.
