Fire board president should resign

<p>Despite his criminal conviction for falsely reporting that a Sonoma County police officer was masturbating near a school playground in Novato, Edward Gee apparently wants to complete his term as a publicly elected director on the Rancho Adobe Fire District Board of Directors. We think that’s wrong, and that Gee should immediately resign his post.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The district, which provides emergency services to 25,000 people in Penngrove, Cotati and the unincorporated area north of Petaluma, deserves better leadership from its elected officials. Having as its board president someone who intentionally deceived law enforcement officials into conducting an expensive, time-consuming and completely unnecessary investigation is not in the best interests of the district or the people it serves.</p><p>Gee, apparently upset with the police officer for having arrested his adult son, maliciously fabricated the story as a way to get even. Along with being inherently unlawful, his actions diverted Novato Police officers’ time away from more important matters and cost the department thousands of dollars. As a board member of a fire district, Gee should know full well that public safety agencies today are spread very thin, and that making such outrageously false claims needlessly drains resources at a time when every dollar is precious. </p><p>Or perhaps Gee lacks a clear understanding and appreciation for the very limited tax dollars funding public safety services. </p><p>Either way, he is unfit to oversee a public safety agency. </p><p>The fire district board of directors brought in an attorney and held a closed-door session on the matter recently, but failed to take any action or even make a statement. </p><p>“What happened was an unfortunate thing,” said Chief Frank Treanor, summarizing the board’s sentiment. “But the board is moving on.” </p><p>By their silence, one could infer that Gee’s fellow board members are not very much concerned about their colleague’s criminal activity or how it harmed a neighboring public safety agency. Their failure to criticize, let alone condemn, Gee’s malevolent crime against the Novato Police Department and a local law enforcement officer is embarrassing for the district, its employees and its volunteer firefighters. </p><p>The board should demonstrate more respect for the law and the people they serve by demanding that Gee resign at their next public board meeting, to be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at the Cotati fire station.</p>