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West Newsmagazine
is West St. Louis County's exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper. |
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Complaint lodged against former Chesterfield City CouncilmemberBy Susan E. SagarraA formal complaint has been lodged against former Chesterfield City Councilmember Allan Sheppard for allegedly impersonating a firefighter while campaigning at a polling place on Election Day, Nov. 4. The complaint alleges that Sheppard, of Chesterfield, told voters and other poll workers that he had worked for the Monarch Fire Protection District for 28 years and retired two years ago. Sheppard was campaigning at the polling station at Armstrong Elementary School in Hazelwood on behalf of Missouri Rep. Jane Cunningham (R-Dist. 86), who was running for the Missouri Senate’s Dist. 7 seat. Sheppard, who served on the City Council in the late 1990s, also has served on the Monarch Citizens’ Committee in the past. Jim Bathe, a retired firefighter from the Monarch Fire Protection District who witnessed the incident, filed the complaint on Nov. 12 with the Hazelwood Police Department. Bathe provided photographs and signed affidavits from a local electrician as well as firefighters from another district regarding the incident. Hazelwood Police Officer Brendan Gilbert confirmed that he made an incident report documenting that the incident occurred. The complaint cites at least one Missouri Statute, RSMo. 575.120, which pertains to false impersonation. Bathe said that he was working at a different polling place when he was informed that one of his fellow retirees possibly was working at another polling place. “I was working at a poll in Florissant and the (Robertson Fire Protection District chief) told me that there was a guy telling people that he was a 28-year veteran of the Monarch Fire District,” Bathe said. “I didn’t recognize the name so I went down to the polling place. This guy had a briefcase with the Monarch logo on it and he was telling people that he had worked for Monarch for 28 years and had been retired for two years. When I said something to him about it, he told me the same thing. I asked him why firefighters work the polls at election time so much. He told me that people trust firefighters and that they don’t lie so people are more likely to vote for the person they are campaigning for.” After conversing with Sheppard for more than an hour, asking him what it was like to be a firefighter - and witnessing Sheppard tell other poll workers and voters that he was a retired firefighter - Bathe said he confronted Sheppard. “I had had all that I could take,” Bathe said. “I told him that he was a liar and that I had worked (at Monarch) for 27 years and just retired three years ago. I personally didn’t know the guy but I made a few phone calls to find out who he was. Apparently he goes to a lot of the (Monarch) board meetings.” Bathe said that Sheppard was unapologetic when confronted. “In my earlier conversation before he knew I was a firefighter, I had asked him to tell me about some of his worst calls and he said, ‘Oh, we don’t talk about those things.’ Well, I know (Monarch firefighter) Roger Morris, who got severely burned, and (Monarch firefighter) Ray Trog, who got killed. And we talk about them,” Bathe said. “I told (Sheppard) that he was a disgrace to all firefighters who wear and have worn the uniform, and especially those two gentlemen. He has never seen what I and other firefighters have seen. He was working for a politician and being a phony about it. He was garnering the public’s trust to vote for someone because they thought he was a firefighter.” David Tilley, chief of the Robertson Fire Protection District, and his firefighters, as well as Clem Novak, an electrician from Illinois, confirmed that the incident occurred. “Some of our off-duty guys who were working the polls told me that this guy was a retired Monarch firefighter,” Tilley said. “I’ve been in the fire service for a long time and I didn’t recognize him or his name but I saw that he had a Monarch briefcase. Three or four of our guys saw him there and talked to him. He was working there most of the day.” On Nov. 13, Bathe, along with Monarch Shop Steward Andy Stecko, presented the information, along with the signed witness statements, to the Monarch Board of Directors. “As a firefighter, I speak for many that take our position of protecting the public safety very seriously,” Stecko said. “We are committed to the public safety and that will never change . . . what I am about to share is very troubling to every firefighter in this district. I need you to understand just how offended we are about a recent incident whereby a Chesterfield citizen fraudulently represented himself as a retired Monarch firefighter at a public gathering. I would hope you recognize the severity of this situation and provide a resolution condemning this person’s actions. To do anything less would be disrespectful to the people who put their (lives) on the line for the public safety of this community every hour of every day.” Stecko asked the board for a formal reprimand of Sheppard. “We find it totally ironic that this is the same Allan Sheppard who frequently attends these board meetings to disparage the district’s firefighters,” Stecko said. “Someone who gloats at speaking down to us now openly professes to be one of us. We believe his actions represent a serious breach of character and feel at the very least a formal reprimand is due Mr. Sheppard from this Board of Directors.” The firefighters also sent a letter to Sheppard seeking a formal apology. Monarch Board Director Kim Evans took a strong stance on the matter. “I am appalled that someone would stoop to the level of misrepresenting himself as a firefighter in public, at a polling place, and using that trust that citizens have in firefighters to try to garner support for a candidate,” Evans said. “I am especially appalled considering that this individual spends so much of his time at board meetings making disparaging remarks about our firefighters.” Evans said she has asked the legal counsel for the fire district to look into the matter. “I asked (Attorney Mike) Bakewell to look into this and take any legal action deemed appropriate,” Evans said. “I understand that Mr. Sheppard previously participated on a citizens’ committee for the fire district and I recommend that he be prohibited from serving in any capacity with our fire district in the future.” Monarch Board President Rick Gans said that the district will review the matter. “Information was presented to the board and the board agreed to look at the information and accusations,” Gans said via e-mail. “The board has not met since that time nor have we discussed the matter any further, which I anticipate we will do.” West Newsmagazine sought comment from Sheppard but he did not return numerous phone calls.
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