Wednesday, June 10, 2009

KEY LARGO -- Following an unflattering audit that found he padded his hours, punctuated by a tongue-lashing from the board that oversees the Key Largo Ambulance Corps, Franky Jones stepped down as chief last week.

Assistant Chief Donald Bock, a member of the ambulance corps for 21 years, will assume the duties of the chief.

"I think there was too much conflict," Jones said Monday. "For the betterment of the corps, I stepped aside."

Jones, who served as chief for 15 years, says he is disappointed, but added that he believes the corps can move faster with his resignation.

"Maybe I was standing in the way," he said.

At a May meeting of the Key Largo Fire-EMS District board, members Mark Wheaton, Marilyn Beyer and Mike Cavagnaro criticized Jones for continuing to assign himself successive 24-hour shifts long after they had been told the problem had been resolved.

In response to Wheaton's comments, Jones offered his resignation at that meeting, and Wheaton accepted it, even though the district board has no authority to hire or fire either ambulance or fire department officers. The district contracts with the two departments for services.

On June 1 Jones tendered his resignation with a simple letter that said he is "regretfully resigning my position as chief of the KLVAC."

Bock, 51, said he was surprised by Jones' resignation.

"We'll survive. We'll get better," Bock said.

He acknowledged the need for change.

"After the audit it's obvious that we have to change," Bock said. "There are a lot of policies that need to be modified."

AmbulanceCorps Office Manager Betsy El-Koury said Bock, a native of Tavernier and Coral Shores High School graduate, has extensive training as a firefighter as well.

"He is intelligent and articulate and has the respect of everyone in the corps," she said.

The changes have resulted from the first draft of a $15,000 audit ordered by the corps, and the discussions that followed. The audit, labeled "For Discussion Purposes Only," found that Jones had allocated more hours to himself than to any other corps member, earning him $41,260 in overtime pay over the past two years, in addition to his $108,000 annual salary.

It also found fault with Jones serving as chief and as a member of the corps board, saying "in instructing staff he may discuss issues that may be voted upon at a future date."

Bock joined the ambulance corps in March 1988.

sgibbs@keysnews.com