A Little Lying Among Friends
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It’s long past time Port Arthur city council asks tough questions of the acting fire chief as we learn the city is giving Acadian Ambulance a pass for lying about their emergency response times. I guess a little lying among friends is okay.
Eight months after he was fired Port Arthur’s former Fire Chief is still fighting to get his job back…
Greg Benson still doesn’t have a date for an appeal hearing. That should have happened months ago… And Port Arthur taxpayers may end up paying for the city manager’s conduct.
Wayne: “You think they’re stalling?”
Greg Benson: “Yes, they’re stalling. It’s been suggested to me that part of the reason that it is being stalled is to get a little bit of time, you know, there’s not that much interest at this point.”
Benson helped us prove Acadian Ambulance was cheating the city by falsifying response time records.
So why was the criminal investigation shelved?
“They didn’t want to go after them, they wanted to protect them,” said Benson.
It was right before Christmas last year when we first met Greg Benson… At the time the fire Chief in Port Arthur…
We were investigating Acadian Ambulance… A Louisiana ambulance company with deep political ties across southeast Texas…
“Numerous members of this department have said that for years there has been a buddy system at work here,” added Benson.
Acadian had been providing ambulance service in this part of the Golden Triangle for more than a decade without having to document their required eight-minute response time.
Benson even suspected some of his staff were too close to Acadian… Had looked the other way… Including his deputy Chief Robert Havens.
Benson was asking the same questions we were back then… But the city manager was ignoring them.
“So, I started asking about their performance level and they’re going oh Benson’s asking about this stuff now,” explained Benson.
We didn’t know our conversation was being secretly recorded by a Fire Department security camera.
But we did find out someone wanted to see a copy of what we were discussing.
It was former fire Chief Larry Richard… But why?
Larry Richard: “It’s none of your business.”
Wayne: “Are you a spy for Acadian or something?”
With Benson’s help, we proved the ambulance service was cheating Port Arthur taxpayers.
Dozens of times Acadian had no ambulance to even send to emergency.
Or they claimed suspect response time numbers.
Records surrounding the death of Francisca Dublon helped us prove Acadian had falsified their response times… Manipulating monthly reports to Chief Benson…
“If the ambulance had come here earlier, I think she’d still be alive,” expressed Francisca Dublon’s son Steve.
In January we filed a complaint with the Port Arthur Police Chief… Alleging the false response time data Acadian gave the city was a crime… Falsifying a government record.
“I will leave no stone unturned to make sure we get to the bottom of it,” said city attorney Ron Burton.
But that was a lie… Instead, the knives came out for Chief Benson.
“This is just so bizarre because you heard Burton talk about being the epitome of transparency and accountability… This was another instance where he didn’t do that at all,” declared Benson.
Just weeks after telling the chamber of commerce how great the fire Chief was… Burton fired Chief Benson…
We went city council to complain…
In July the city of Port Arthur appointed Robert Havens as interim Fire Chief.
And we now know Havens was allowed to kill the investigation.
Last May 2nd, the police Chief had asked Havens for a sworn document of the false reporting so he could “move forward” on his investigation. There was no email response from Havens.
Nearly three months later the Chief reminds Havens that he never got it.
And gave the new interim Chief the opportunity to end the probe. Havens took it…
Havens’ response should raise alarm bells. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it just doesn’t smell, right?
“This whole submitting false government documents is problematic for a couple of reasons…” Havens wrote.
“The records were their private company’s work product and not a product of the city of Port Arthur or any government entity… And there was no official document that was required to be produced in the city contract.”
It almost sounded like Havens was told what to say by a lawyer or someone else working for Acadian.
Benson: “Just based on some of the comments in there, it might have been a legal person that wrote it.”
Wayne: “A legal person from Acadian…?”
Benson: “Yeah.”
Wayne: “You’re not surprised?”
Benson: “No, I’m not.”
Havens also said the questions about Acadian’s response times were moot because they no longer had the contract in Port Arthur.
That’s an insult to Port Arthur taxpayers who put their lives in Acadian’s hands for years…
Havens has refused to talk to us.
But the Police Chief dropped the investigation after that email… A month after I questioned the city’s promise to investigate.
Wayne: “Doesn’t the Police Chief deserve some blame too?
Benson: “Yes, he does.”
It’s clear Port Arthur won’t hold Acadian accountable. But our investigation should raise red flags in other cities where Acadian provides ambulance service.
Pasadena fought our investigation every step of the way. That city’s contract with Acadian requires them to respond to life-threatening emergencies in nine minutes at least ninety percent of the time…
The city has no records showing they ever monitor response times in the interest of public safety… Where’s the accountability?
It’s not right if Greg Benson was fired for simply caring about the safety of Port Arthur residents… And I don’t ever forget the public officials who help me expose injustice.
