Monday, January 10, 2011 Watertown fire department in turmoil after claims, suicide
BARRY ADAMS | badams@madison.com | 608-252-6148 | Posted: Sunday, January 9, 2011 5:10 am

Michael Quint knew someone was sabotaging his efforts to find another job.
The former assistant fire chief of the Watertown Fire Department suspected it was Henry Butts, the city's fire chief. Quint believed Butts had sent anonymous letters to fire departments in four states urging them not to hire him, a violation of a separation agreement Quint signed when leaving his job with the city in January 2010.
So Quint, a 30-year firefighter, became a Dumpster-diving detective. His quarry: the empty cans of Klarbrunn Sparkling Water that he knew Butts favored.
In August, Quint retrieved two of the cans from the trash outside the department. He also requested — and received from fire departments in Chippewa Falls and Benton, Ill. — the anonymous letters and envelopes.
In late September, Quint's suspicions were confirmed. The DNA from saliva on the cans and envelopes matched, according to test results from a private lab. Those results are the basis of a claim Quint has filed against Butts and the city seeking $780,000 in damages.
When Quint contacted the city with his results, Butts "vigorously" denied the allegations, according to the claim. Butts declined to comment to the State Journal when reached at his Watertown home.
The Watertown Police Department is investigating Quint's allegations, and results could be made public in the next two weeks, Mayor Ron Krueger said. In the wake of the accusations, Butts was put on paid leave Nov. 5 and he abruptly resigned Nov. 30.
Less than two weeks later, another assistant chief, Bill Schwenkner, committed suicide. His family told authorities he had become stressed by the work environment.
The turmoil has left the 25-member department and the community reeling. Watertown, a city of 23,000 along the Rock River, is about 40 miles northeast of Madison.
"The department has been kind of turned upside down," said Brad Fox, a Watertown firefighter and paramedic and president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 877. "Working conditions aren't normal. We've had a huge change in the department."
 
Workplace complaint
Quint and his wife, Vicki, allege in their claim, filed last month, that Butts "seriously and egregiously" violated the terms and conditions of the separation agreement.
The dispute between the two men surfaced in 2009, when Quint filed a complaint against Butts alleging that he had created a hostile workplace and managed by intimidation. The style had demoralized the department, said Quint's attorney, Mark Hazelbaker. Butts, hired as chief in 1999, countered with discipline charges against Quint alleging insubordination.
The countering claims were dropped when Quint agreed to a separation agreement with the city under which he left his job and the city paid him $57,000, Hazelbaker said.
The core of the separation agreement was a positive letter that was to be the sole reference from the city to any future employers of Quint, who was publicly named a finalist for chief positions in Marshalltown, Iowa; Benton, Ill.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; and Chippewa Falls.
In each case, the departments received anonymous letters referencing the discipline charges by Butts against Quint and urging the departments not to hire Quint.
"We hope you do not make the same mistake our chief did by hiring him," a typed letter to the Chippewa Fire District read. It also urged the department to ask for public records of the charges made by Butts against Quint "and all the supporting documents that proved those charges were true."
Hazelbaker said Quint suspected that Butts sent the letters but didn't have proof. That led Quint to conduct his own investigation and send his evidence to PTC Laboratories in Columbia, Mo. The results came back at the end of September, according to the claim.
When Quint contacted the city with the results, Butts denied the accusations and issued a memo to those in the fire department not to furnish employment references, according to the claim.
"Unfortunately, it was Mr. Butts who had already violated the terms of the separation agreement, and he continued to violate it," Quint's claim said.
Butts' attorney, Mark Sweet, could not be reached for comment.
 
Lawsuit is possible
The city has until mid-April to act on the claim by Quint. If the city or its insurance carrier deny the claim, Quint plans to sue the city and Butts, Hazelbaker said.
"The city could end this thing by reinstating him tomorrow," Hazelbaker said. "Mike loved the Watertown Fire Department. It's the job he truly loved. That's why it was so galling for him to be forced out."
Hazelbaker said that before Quint's 2009 complaint, Quint had never received a negative evaluation or a reprimand, but that changed when he complained about Butts. At the time, Hazelbaker said, "Mike Quint came forward and raised concerns that were shared by a large number of people in the department."
Quint's current claim against the city asks for $680,000 in lost wages through Quint's retirement date of 2018, and $50,000 each for himself and his wife for humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish.
Krueger said "there's a lot of misinformation" in Quint's claim. He questioned whether Quint had firm job offers and disputed the math used to calculate the amount of the claim.
The mayor declined to comment on the accusations that Butts sent the anonymous letters. "That's part of this investigation," Krueger said. "Once our internal investigation is done, then I can speak to that."
Krueger said he doesn't expect there will be disciplinary actions against others in the department once the city's investigation is completed. But Krueger said that "many" members of the department were interviewed, including assistant chief Schwenkner, 47, who "was not a major focus of the investigation."
Suicide by assistant fire chief
Schwenkner, a Watertown native, spent 20 years with the fire department. His body was found Dec. 10 by a deer hunter northwest of the city on public hunting grounds. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
According to a report from the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, Schwenkner left a note alluding to stress at work on the seat of his pickup truck, which was found at the hunting grounds. His wife told police that a financial audit of the fire department that was scheduled to begin had been bothering her husband.
The audit was prompted by Butts' resignation and is standard operating procedure when a department head abruptly resigns, city officials said. The audit, being conducted by the city's accounting firm, Baker Tilly, has not been completed.
According to the report from the Sheriff's Office, Schwenkner had asked about the impending audit during a phone conversation with acting fire chief Kraig Biefeld about three hours before Schwenkner was found dead.
Butts told detectives he could not recall any conversation that would have hinted that Schwenkner was in distress or had suicidal thoughts.
Schwenkner's wife of 25 years, Sandra, said that while her husband was not involved in the dispute between Butts and Quint, he felt stress from the ongoing questions about Butts during the investigation. The stress increased once Butts resigned. She's not sure what ultimately led to the suicide.
"I have no idea," Sandra Schwenkner said. "The only person that knows that is Bill and God."
Bill Schwenkner's death came not only as a shock to his family, but to his co-workers, who have been undergoing grief counseling. Four members of the department were among those who responded to the suicide scene.
"He was not only an amazing co-worker and leader but an incredible friend and asset to the department," Fox said of Schwenkner. "Everybody has pulled together, and we're doing the best we can to move forward and remember Bill."