Grand Island volunteers ask town for legal representation amid internal fire-company dispute

Two longtime volunteers in the Grand Island Fire Company told the Grand Island Town Board that they have been targeted in internal disciplinary proceedings and asked the town to provide legal representation under New York General Municipal Law 205‑g.

At the June town board meeting, a lifelong Grand Island resident and 29-year member of the Grand Island Fire Company, who identified himself as a certified New York State paramedic, said he was suspended after being accused of sharing charging documents and sought town counsel under 205‑g, the statute that covers legal representation for volunteer firefighters. “I'm here this evening to respectfully request legal representation in accordance with general municipal law 2 0 5 g, which covers volunteer firefighters,” the resident said.

Another speaker, Bob Cleveland, a resident and 35-year volunteer firefighter, said his adult son, Daniel Cleveland, joined the fire company in January 2023 and was involved in a separate disciplinary matter following an incident in which a chief officer used a racial slur. “My son being African American did take offense to this,” Cleveland said. He told the board that the fire company initially accepted responsibility after an investigation but that no disciplinary action followed. Cleveland said the company has spent roughly $15,000 on legal counsel related to the internal matters and that his son has not been offered legal counsel. “Yet, neither 1 of these 2 had been offered the, the same opportunities for an attorney,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland also told the board he believes the fire company’s leaders have sought to justify a move toward creating a fire district and a larger budget while purportedly misappropriating taxpayer dollars for internal legal matters. The resident speaker said administrators are “crafting a narrative” and that a New York State Division of Human Rights investigation into the fire company is underway.

Councilman Dan Kilmer said the topic had already been discussed in executive session and that the board had received a legal opinion on General Municipal Law 205‑g. Kilmer moved to refer the matter to the town board for further consideration; the motion passed on a roll call vote. Kilmer said the board would take the referral up at a future meeting once it had time to review the legal opinion.

The town board did not take a final position on whether to provide counsel at the meeting; the action recorded was a referral to the board for further review. The speakers’ comments and the board’s referral leave the question of whether the town will provide representation unresolved pending further board consideration and review of legal counsel.