Fire Chief Dennis Rubin was directly involved in the District’s donation of emergency vehicles to the Dominican Republic, newly released e-mails show, but the chief claimed under oath to know very little days after the deal fell apart.
The donation to the town of Sosua was organized by members of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s inner circle. But numerous other city officials were involved, including Rubin.
The council’s judiciary and government operations committees, which ran a 10-month inquiry into the donation, released all related documents to the public this week.
The Examiner first reported March 27 the donation of the vehicles. During an April 1 hearing before the judiciary committee, Rubin claimed to know very little about the deal or the taxpayer-funded travel of Assistant Chief Ronald Gill Jr. to Sosua two months earlier. Rubin said at the time he was “clueless.”
But Rubin had been regularly copied on e-mail correspondence regarding the transaction as late as November 2008, according to e-mails released as part of the investigation. And he was actively involved before that.
On Nov. 26, 2007, Rubin e-mailed the mayor’s office on the matter. The fire department “does not have a problem with donating used, worn out equipment to needy recipients,” Rubin wrote. But there must be “various laws about the disposal of capital equipment that we are not aware of as well that will need to be considered before you can give the requested equipment away.”
On Dec. 26, 2007, Rubin e-mailed development chief David Jannarone that he was checking whether Engine 194, a pumper truck soon to go out of service, was available. “Also,” Rubin wrote, “we [sic] you able to get clearance from the [Attorney General’s] Office to donate a vehicle?”
The next day, Rubin told Jannarone that the pumper was surplus, offered up Assistant Chief Thomas Herlihy as someone who could visit Sosua to train the town’s first responders on its use, and wished Jannarone “Good Luck!!!”
On May 27, 2008, Rubin e-mailed Gill, who would later travel to Sosua to assess the town’s firefighting infrastructure.
“The donation of this pumper to the D.R. has been underway for awhile,” Rubin wrote. “Chief Gill, please get in contact with Mr. David Gannarone [sic] at the Deputy Mayor’s Office … and determine what are the next steps in the donation process. Thanks!”
A spokesman for Rubin declined comment Thursday.
