On August 5, the Town announced in a press release and on the Town's website the abrupt firing of Fire Chief Michael Grillo, a little over a year after he was hired. The announcement followed a closed Executive Session meeting at which all three members of the Select Board voted to accept the Town Manager's finding that Mike Grillo be released from his position as Sandisfield Fire Chief.

The announcement of the firing left the town wondering why. The answer has finally arrived.

At its regularly scheduled meeting on August 31, the Select Board approved the minutes of the earlier closed meeting, which are now posted on the Town's website.

The Town has also released an accompanying Administrative Fact-Finding document and a response from Chief Grillo

As outlined in a report from Town Manager Janey Snyder, Grillo was accused of engaging "in a romantic and/or intimate relationship with a subordinate while serving as Fire Chief, in violation of the Sandisfield Fire Department's Anti-Fraternization General Order."

The investigation further stated that "Chief Grillo did not appropriately disclose and mitigate the conflict created by the relationship."

Grillo, who was represented by an attorney at the Executive Session, disputed most of the claims. (Grillo's attorney was not allowed to speak.) Grillo explained, said the report, that he had "satisfied the disclosure requirement by effectively disclosing the relationship to himself."

In a summary, Town Manager Janey Snyder wrote that Grillo's "sustained violations, including the violation of the Anti-Fraternization General Order, failure to maintain appropriate professional and supervisory boundaries, failure to appropriately disclose and mitigate the resulting conflict of interest, lack of candor during the investigation, and conduct that compromised the integrity of the investigative process, demonstrate a fundamental failure of judgment and professional boundaries incompatible with the responsibilities and public trust inherent in the position of Fire Chief."

Fireworks at the
Firehouse, Again

Statement from the
Former Chief