BAYOU VISTA — More than half of Bayou Vista’s volunteer firefighters and the treasurer of its governing body resigned in protest of the board’s decision to remove the city’s fire chief from office, officials said Thursday.

Bill Radford, an Omega Bay resident, said board members didn’t discuss their 3-2 vote to fire him Wednesday evening, and he said the decision was disrespectful to the city’s firefighters. He also said he wasn’t consulted about his job performance.

Iva Davis resigned her board treasurer’s post, and nine of the city’s 14 volunteer firefighters followed suit, signing and issuing a letter to the board, saying they could no longer tolerate its disrespect and lack of support, both Davis and Radford said.

A 10^th volunteer resigned, Radford said, but wasn’t present to sign the letter, which Radford gave to The Daily News.

City Secretary Paula Eshelman, who is also a board member, said the city staffs two paid firefighters daily on 12-hour shifts beginning at 6:30 a.m.

She said the paid staff and mutual-aid agreements with other entities would help provide ample fire protection for Bayou Vista residents.

Eshelman declined to discuss specifics on her vote of no confidence. She said her husband, Dale Eshelman, who is the board president, didn’t vote.

“There were several reasons,” Dale Eshelman said.

“But a couple of the most important reasons were that I felt like he wasn’t performing his job appropriately and not acting appropriately as you would expect a fire chief would. He was being misdirected by a board member, causing divisiveness between the volunteers, the paid crew, as well as board members.”

Appointment questioned

Eddie Janek Jr., a Bayou Vista city councilman, was appointed to the fire board March 3 and voted Wednesday to remove Radford.

Radford and Davis said Janek’s appointment was made contrary to the board’s rules, because Dale Eshelman voted twice, once in favor of the appointment and again to break the 3-3 tie.

Radford and Davis said Dale Eshelman was the board’s former vice president.

They said he stepped into the president’s role when Ron Mlack resigned as board president in January.

The board accepted Mlcak’s resignation as president March 3, according to the meeting’s approved minutes, which were obtained by The Daily News on Thursday from the city secretary.

The March 3 minutes also list Dale Eshelman as the board’s vice president and acting president.

The minutes reveal he voted for Janek’s board appointment and, in the absence of a presiding officer, he also broke the tie by deciding to appoint Janek.

Radford and Davis said Dale Eshelman voted for Janek’s appointment only after realizing the board majority had defeated the appointment 3-2.

Dale Eshelman said Thursday he couldn’t remember without looking at his notes at what point he cast his vote.

Radford and Davis said Dale Eshelman shouldn’t have voted to begin with, according Robert’s Rules of Order, because, as presiding officer, his vote wasn’t the decisive vote.

Point of order

Radford and Davis said Eshelman broke Robert’s Rules of Order in breaking the tie to make the appointment.

Eshelman said he didn’t violate the board’s protocol. He said he wasn’t appointed as the board’s president until Wednesday and that he voted to approve Janek’s appointment as the vice president.

He then said he broke the tie as the presiding officer.

“I believe we followed what we consider to be the appropriate action,” Dale Eshelman said.

Chris Gimenez, director of the fire board, backed Eshelman’s statement, and Janek declined to comment on the matter.

Neither Radford nor Davis said whether they would contest Janek’s appointment, which could have been the deciding vote on Radford’s removal as fire chief.

Board member John Venzke, who is the liaison to the city’s fire department, was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.

“If the former chief wants to challenge it, it’s up to him,” Gimenez said.

“We have conducted business of those meetings professionally, and I don’t have any qualms about what’s occurred.”

Paula Eshelman said the board could appoint a fire chief at its April 9 meeting.

“My guys and gals on the fire crew, I appreciate what they’ve done and the support they’ve given me,” Radford said.

Davis, who lives in Santa Fe, said she sat on the information for a long time before deciding to go public.

“I didn’t want to create a stink for the community,” Davis said.

Gimenez, a Bayou Vista resident, said the city’s message boards are claiming the board destroyed the fire department.

“The majority of the volunteers do not live here,” Gimenez said.

“I was voted in at 70 percent of the vote. I think the residents who live here have confidence in what the board is trying to accomplish for them.”

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How They Voted

How members of Bayou Vista’s Fire Board voted Wednesday on renewing Fire Chief Bill Radford’s term:

•FOR: Treasurer Iva Davis, Fire Chief Bill Radford

•AGAINST: Vice President Eddie Janek Jr., Secretary Paula Eshelman, Director Chris Gimenez

•DIDN’T VOTE: President Dale Eshelman

•ABSENT: Fire Department Liaison John Venzke