Man stays on Rancho Adobe fire board despite crime

The Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District’s board has discussed in closed session an incident in which one of its members pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a crime, but has decided to take no action regarding his status on the board.

“What happened was an unfortunate thing, but the board is moving on,” said Chief Frank Treanor, adding that the member, Edward Gee, and the board’s attorney were present during the closed session.

Gee, a former San Francisco fire captain who currently is serving as president of the board, pleaded guilty in a Marin County Court on Sept. 30 to the misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting a crime.

An anonymous caller notified the Novato Police Department of Feb. 3 that he saw a man masturbating in a vehicle near Pleasant Valley Elementary School, while students were playing on the playground. The caller provided descriptions of the suspect and the vehicle, and its license plate number.

Novato police discovered that the vehicle was registered to a Sonoma County police officer, and a subsequent investigation conducted by the department’s patrol and investigations personnel revealed that Gee had made the anonymous call.

An investigation determined that the officer was not in Novato at the time of the alleged crime, and was not involved in any illegal activity.

Gee’s adult son previously had been arrested by the officer, and apparently this motivated Gee to give the false report, said Sgt. Keith Helden of the Novato Police Department.

The case was forwarded to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, and criminal charges against Gee were filed on July 21. Besides pleading guilty to the crime, Gee was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and ordered to pay restitution.

Treanor says he has not received any calls from community leaders or members regarding the situation.

Gee is scheduled to serve as board president until January, and his board term expires in December 2010.

He did not reply to requests for an interview.

(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)