FLINT, MI -- Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s administration called allegations of wrongdoing made by former Fire Chief Raymond Barton untrue in a statement on Tuesday, Jan. 10, a day after Barton sued the city and the mayor for $10 million in federal court.
In the lawsuit, Barton claims Neeley instructed him to resign or be fired after he refused to change his investigatory findings and recommended discipline for two firefighters who had declared an all-clear during a house fire on West Pulaski Street where two children who later died were still inside.
Barton’s recommendation to terminate the firefighters was eventually overruled inside City Hall, a decision the chief never endorsed.
Barton alleged Neeley pushed him to change his report and recommendations because he was trying to lock down endorsements from Flint Firefighters Local 352 for his own 2022 re-election campaign and his wife, state Rep. Cynthia Neeley, D-Flint.
The union has defended the firefighters during discipline hearings and contended they were made scapegoats during the Pulaski fire investigation.
The city’s statement Tuesday says it will not release any additional information about the Pulaski Street fire, which is already the subject of a Michigan State Police investigation and a civil lawsuit in Genesee Circuit Court.
“In (the fire’s) aftermath, the Flint Fire Department and Human Resources Department, with the assistance of the Law Department, conducted an internal investigation and issued discipline...
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