West Slope fire chief accused of DUI
Updated Dec. 21, 1:36pm:
An El Dorado County fire chief was arrested last week in the middle of the afternoon on charges of driving under the influence.
William Dekker, who is the top guy with Garden Valley fire, has a history with alcohol.
William Dekker
The 60-year-old’s latest arrest came Dec. 17 at 1:49pm in Greenwood.
According to El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies, they were called to a dispute about a loose dog between neighbors in Greenwood. The neighbor told deputies that Dekker threatened to shoot him.
Deputies flagged Dekker down as he was driving by. They suspected he had been drinking, conducted several field sobriety tests and then arrested him for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
In 1996 Dekker was arrested in Dayton with a blood alcohol level of 0.10. A settlement resulted in no jail time even though he hit a firefighter while driving a fire engine.
A no contest plea to disorderly conduct led Dekker to resign as chief of the Pine-Strawberry Fire District in Arizona in September 2007. Three months later he became chief of Garden Valley.
In 2012 the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office began an investigation into Dekker’s credit card use.
In 2011, his current fire district paid for him to get substance abuse treatment.
Dekker has a 10-year contract that expires in 2020. To fire him takes all five board members to agree. He makes nearly $130,000 a year.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
And the beat goes on…
What is it with these government bureaucrats with obviously not enough to do, driving around drunk in the middle of their workdays and getting caught once on the roads? Why don’t their staffs notice and do something or are they simply pencil-pushing, gutless followers? Was the unfavorable record of this guy checked prior to hiring?
If the board realizes the huge liability this guy is they will do the right thing and unload him ASAP.
Irregardless of this moron’s actions, I maintain that fire depts over pay and underwork. And don’t give me that ‘hero’ BS either. It’s a fraternity of corruption.
Dekker was also convicted of passing bad checks. The Garden Valley Fire Board knew he had been convicted of passing bad checks and still they gave Dekker a 10 year employment contract. Also, in May of this year the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to give Garden Valley Fire a $400,000 grant because Garden Valley deserved the extra money. Your tax dollars at work.
It is not uncommon for bad tenants to go to mom and pop rental operations because their references may not be checked very carefully. Is this true also of bad employees? Do they come to small municipalities or rural counties thinking that expectations will be lower? Do other smaller communities get as many lemons as we seem to get?
What the heck?
Somebody in the Old Boys’ network must have let him slide on the previous DUI. Can’t drive a fire truck with that blot on your record. Sure as heck wouldn’t let any “civilian” get away with what he has.
No worries about getting fired, though. He’s built up a lovely pension and benefits package.
Is this entire town wasted 24/7? What on earth is going on here?!
This was another case of a failed background check it looks like and even missing the criminal charges. If the DA is paying attention he will charge him as a DUI with prior/s and he will go away to do time and be let go. Sadly, he might get a good settlement.
He seems like a “nice Guy-” He just made another mistake again. A DUI with an emergency vehicle possessing a commercial license causing bodily harm. Enough with this public sector madness.
There should not be any resistance to letting this guy go. Regardless of the reasons, a decades long history of substance abuse, unruly conduct.
Is it possible that the Board is afraid of him and what he might do if they terminate him? Reading between the lines there might be reason for this. If it is true that he threatened his neighbor over a lose dog, it is probably not the first time he has done such a thing.
This guy seems to go through life bullying his way through the system, and based on his success in this endeavor, sees himself as entitled to just keep it up.
Somebody needs to man up and get him out of there.
If they fire him they will have to pay him about $ 975.000 dollars in pay. He still has 4 1/2 years on his contract and thats about $975.000
@xlocal, I would hope that there’s something in his ‘contract’ that pertains to him performing his duties and representing the department in a professional manner. If so he failed. Seems they’ve done all they should have had to do with giving him substance abuse treatment. It’s time for him to go regardless of the cost or hardship to the department. But I doubt he lived up to his end of the contract, and shouldn’t be fully compensated.
Ok what is the difference between the Fire Chief and former School Superintendent? Jeremy Meyers was allowed to hide his DUI arrest from the public for 2 months, I bet the fire chief was not allowed to leave the scene with his wife versus being taken to the county correctional facility. Until the DA actually prosecutes public officials in the same manner how can the public ever take enforcement of DUI in El Dorado County serious? Did anyone ever do a background check on Jeremy Meyers?
Why would the chief be treated any different than Jeremy Meyers former Superintendent? I am willing to bet the Chief was not allowed to be taken home by his wife after his DUI arrest like Jeremy Meyers was. If the DA is going to prosecute the Chief then he should prosecute former Superintendent Jeremy Meyers otherwise the Chief will be able to win on any appeal stating he was treated differentially when compared to Jeremy Meyers another public official. DA do your job and prosecute both the Chief and Jeremy Meyers, do not accept any plea bargains unless it includes time in the county jail and a stiff fine. Jeremy Meyers already received a $125,000 severance and no telling what the Chief will get for severance. Make both the Chief and Jeremy Meyers pay back some of the ill gotten gain from El Dorado County Tax Payers.