Presque Isle councilors dismiss city’s fire chief

PRESQUE ISLE – City councilors fired the local fire chief Tuesday after determining he had violated city rules and regulations by receiving reimbursements for the same expenses from up to four entities over the course of five years.

Jim Krysiak, who had served as chief of the Presque Isle Fire Department since 1990, was fired after a personnel hearing, which the council held in executive session Tuesday night. The council’s decision comes after a full review – that began after Krysiak was placed on paid temporary relief from duty on March 2 – and a determination by City Manager Tom Stevens on March 31 to dismiss the fire chief.

The council’s written decision states that Krysiak “intentionally and knowingly doubled up on, and received reimbursement for, reimbursement requests to the City of Presque Isle, County of Aroostook, Maine Fire Chiefs Association and Maine Fire Training and Education, and/or a combination thereof, for the same travel and miscellaneous reimbursable expenses over a five-year period.”

The decision states that councilors reviewed facts and evidence in the record including Krysiak’s admission and acknowledgement “that he knew what he was doing was inappropriate and a violation of the City’s Personnel Rules and Regulations.”

Krysiak’s conduct, according to the decision, “is an egregious breach of the public trust and departure from acceptable standards of employee conduct.”

Stevens said Wednesday that the city first learned of the matter earlier this year when County Administrator Doug Beaulieu contacted city officials with some information related to Krysiak’s travel reimbursements. Stevens would not comment on details, but said that, subsequently, city and county officials made a joint request to the Attorney General’s Office to look into the matter. The office now is conducting a criminal investigation.

Beaulieu said Wednesday that he could not comment on “any issues leading up to and related to the investigation” and referred inquiries to the Attorney General’s Office.

Chuck Dow with the Attorney General’s Office confirmed Wednesday that the investigation is pending and said that no information is being released at this point.

Stevens said that he could not comment on some issues, including how much money Krysiak received in reimbursements from the city, because of the investigation.

Officials with the Attorney General’s Office have instructed city, county and fire association officials not to release any public records as allowed under a state law regarding the limitation on release of intelligence and investigative information. Because of the law, several requests the Bangor Daily News has made for public documents related to Krysiak’s expenses and reimbursements have been denied.

Those records are expected to be made public after the Attorney General’s Office wraps up its investigation. Dow said he had no timeline on when officials would be done.

Meanwhile, Stevens said that the city soon will be advertising for a new fire chief and that Deputy Chief Darrell White is serving as the interim fire chief.

“It’s been a very difficult last couple of months for all involved,” Stevens said. “We’ve all tried to remain focused here, and now we’ll move on and put our efforts into selecting a new fire chief.”