East Rockaway village alleges misconduct by fire chief

In a report dated March 26 with the Office of the Mayor and Board of Trustees of East Rockaway on its letterhead stationery, and addressed to the East Rockaway Fire Department Council, Mayor Francis T. Lenahan explains to the recipients his actions explaining the resignation of Fire Chief Steven Torborg and the release of the documents.

As reported in the Herald two weeks ago, Torborg resigned due to “personal reasons.” He had two weeks left in his term as chief of the department. Second Chief Ed Reicherter is now serving as acting chief.

Lenahan wrote that GPS systems were place in each chief’s vehicle, agreed to by the chief, he said, in response to a “number of inquiries” by residents that official vehicles were being used improperly and not found to be in places of official business.

The GPS systems were installed in the vehicles in December 2012. An initial check of the system some time later, the report stated, showed that Unit 401 was found to be at “a very remote and wooded location” — off road — in Garden City South, with the engine running, sometimes for upwards of one-and-a-half to two hours in the late evening hours. The report stated that the village did not know who was operating 401 at the time.

Based on the information from the GPS, and upon Village Attorney John Ryan’s approval, a licensed private investigating firm was hired to look into the matter. As a result, Lenahan wrote, the GPS reading showed 12 stops to the remote location and one to the Pines Motor Inn. With these findings, Torborg was given the choice to resign quietly to keep this information “private and confidential,” and the report stated that the board assured him this information would not be made public “unless he forced the board to do so.”

In a document dated March 22, Torborg resigned as chief, signing that he was informed of the charges, including “misuse of a Fire Department vehicle and conduct unbecoming an officer of the East Rockaway Fire Department.”

But, Lenahan wrote, due to Torborg’s subsequent actions and the resulting public attacks on the office of the mayor and the village board in the social media “caused by his false statements after we accepted his resignation in private,” the village board, he said, had no choice but to forward this letter.

Torborg said he is proud of his tenure as chief and of his service to the residents of the community.

“The news media gave an inaccurate and incomplete picture of the circumstances and allegations of the report that has been anonumously mailed [to them] surrounding my resignation as chief of the East Rockaway Fire Department,” he said. “I remain extremely proud of my tenure as chief.”

Lenahan had no comment for this story, and village attorney John Ryan is on vacation, and referred the Herald to an interiew he gave to other news outlets.